


Who Do You Love

by astarpen



Category: Glee
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-30
Updated: 2016-04-15
Packaged: 2018-04-28 23:56:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 28,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5110163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astarpen/pseuds/astarpen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I'm your mate." Charlie declares, saying it a second time because it was just so right. It was like everything in her life had led to this moment, everything suddenly clicking into place. Santana was hers.</p><p>"Yeah, that's not going to happen." Santana slides the sandwich back to Charlie.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a short story that is basically just me testing out the lore before I start to delve into it deeper, so this is mostly a fluff piece sort of. The entire story will be posted on fanfiction, but if you want to read the entirety of it right now, it will be up on my patreon by tomorrow. I'm just in the process of getting it cleaned up. Since this is the first, if there's something that I need to start adding or something that will help me with the world building please suggest it. I'm open to constructive criticism. This fic is finished but Stitches which is based in the same world but is a completely different story.
> 
> Song: Who do you love – Marianas Trench
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing

Charlie Fabray crinkled her nose as she knocked on her twin's door. "Quinn, mom says that I can't eat until you decide to deign us with your presence. Don't make me come in there and break you two up, you know I have _always_ kicked your ass when it comes to food. I don't care if your dick is currently buried inside Rachel, get the hell out of bed." Charlie groused, she could smell them. The whole hallway stunk of their pheromones, which only made her prickly. It was bad enough that she could tell when her parents were doing it, which was _all_ the time but her sister had been locked in the room all weekend her mother was putting her foot down. Which meant her father was putting his foot down which meant that she had the unfortunate task of breaking the two of them up, because her father didn't want to do it.

The door to Quinn's room opens and Rachel smiles brightly at Charlie a simple towel wrapped around her body, the love bites all over her neck and the mate bite evident on her upper neck, it would be hard for Rachel to hide it. Not that she ever did, "Good morning Charlie, Quinn's pretending to be asleep right now and—"

" _Rachel!_ " Quinn said darting in front of her trying to protect her modesty from her twin. There was a part of her that knew that Charlie wouldn't touch Rachel especially with her scent all over her. She didn't care if she was naked, Rachel was her mate. "Go away, I was—"

Charlie grabs her twin by the scruff of her neck and yanks her out of her room, she could care less if Quinn was naked. "If the bacon is cold I'm going to kick your ass, I don't care if Rachel is right here." Charlie grunts at Quinn practically throwing her down the stairs. She could hear Rachel following them.

"Charlie—while I appreciate the fact that you are hungry we were in the middle of something and I'm sure that your breakfast could have—" Rachel winces when Charlie shoves Quinn down the last few steps. "Waited until Quinn had put on some clothes," she says when she notices both Judy and Russell staring at the scene in front of them. "Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Fabray." Rachel said blushing and wanting to run back upstairs.

Judy sighed as she watched Charlie march to the table and heads to the laundry room to grab them both something to wear. "This isn't what I had in mind when I told you that you couldn't eat until Quinn was at the table."

Charlie grunted at her mother and gets a swift smack upside the head from her father as she begins to shovel food onto her plate. "You told me that I couldn't eat till Quinn was downstairs, you never specified _how_ I got her downstairs or that she had to be wearing clothes. She's the one that tried to pretend to be asleep."

Judy came back from the laundry room with two oversized shirts, it would have to do for now as she handed one to Rachel and the other one to her daughter. She glanced over at her husband who had reached for the paper and gave him a look when he noticed her staring at him. "Russell?" she prompts and tilts her head towards Charlie.

Russell looks at his youngest daughter and then back at Judy and makes a face before clearing his throat causing her to look at him, her mouth filled with food. He sighed and placed the newspaper down. "You are frustrated. You should stop that."

Judy groans and Quinn smirks, but Charlie just eyes her father closely before turning back to her food. Quinn shakes her head. "Smooth, Dad."

"What?" He threw up his hands defensively. This wasn't going as he had envisioned, though if he was honest he wasn't quite sure how he had planned for this to go. "Charlie, you're the only one in this family without a mate. Quinn and Rachel have been mated for a while now, Brittany and Mike are talking about starting their own family—my point is everyone has found their mate besides you and you turned eighteen. Surely there's _someone_ at school that you like."

"Nope." Came the muffled reply as Charlie reached for her orange juice.

Judy sighed and looked "Charlie, what your father is trying to say is that finding your mate is important, you've been rather irritable lately and your father and I are— _concerned._ "

"I'm _fine_ ," Charlie grumbles picking at her pancakes before shoveling that into her mouth.

" _Charlie_ ," Judy said with a sigh. She had gone over this with Russell already, but she wasn't surprised that he had missed the finer points of this discussion. "I think that your father is right and you've been feeling a bit frustrated and it's causing you to lash out."

Quinn took a seat across from her twin and pulled Rachel onto her lap not caring that her parents were there at all. "Yeah, we're all tired of you bitching out—"

Rachel slapped Quinn's arm reprovingly, but made no move to get off of her alpha's lap. "Be nice." She chided, then turned to Charlie, "What your family is trying to say is that having a mate is a liberating and exhilarating experience. We all just want you to be happy and I know from experience that there are probably dozens of omegas out there trying to find someone like you."

"No thanks." Charlie frowned, her mouth full of eggs and pancakes. She swallowed heavily. "I'll pass."

"You can't just _pass_." Russell insisted, hardening his gaze at his youngest daughter. "You need to start thinking about your future. As an alpha, big schools will look down on you if you haven't managed to find your mate yet. You're a menace, a threat to other alphas, and you _need_ to find your mate."

"Russell—" Judy warned. She had just wanted him to offer fatherly support and encouragement. This was going downhill quickly.

Quinn decided to speak up attempting to help Charlie out. "It's not as if she doesn't burn off the excess energy. Pretty sure she's—"

"Shut up, Lucy." Charlie glared at her twin. The last thing she needed was her parents on her case for having fun with unclaimed omegas. They weren't hurting anyone and her parents would just see it as proof that she was irresponsible and crying out for attention or some shit like that. She made sure to shower thoroughly before coming home from school, washing the evidence of her escapades away from her parents' senses.

"Why don't you make me?" Quinn snaps back shifting a bit and adjusting Rachel on her lap, she had no problem getting into it with Charlie after what had happened ten minutes ago. Charlie had made her look weak in front of Rachel, and it wasn't something that she could easily forgive.

" _Enough_ ," Russell said, back when they were younger it had been sort of cute to watch them roll around on the ground wrestling for dominance. Back then they couldn't break anything, but this table was expensive and he had just replaced it earlier this year after the two of them had an 'accident'. This was exactly what he was talking about, Charlie was picking fights and it was dangerous for other alphas. She still had enough sense to avoid challenging his authority most of the time, but it was getting to the point where he wasn't quite sure how to control her without using brute force. Alpha's _needed_ omegas. It helped balance them out. He turns to his youngest who had a scowl on her face. "Charlie school starts tomorrow. You need to make a _concerted_ effort to find your mate, if by Christmas I'm not satisfied with your efforts, you will be cut off."

Charlie rolled her eyes, but slapped a smile on her face. "Yes, sir."

Russell moved to get up to give her a heavy smack across the back of her head when Judy moved to his side, "That's all we ask, you'll be much happier once you've found your mate." Russell grumbled and Judy rubbed his back to soothe him. "Do you need more coffee?"

"Yes." He groused staring at his youngest, who reached for the plate of bacon. "You've had enough." He smirks when she gives him a horrified look, that would show her who was in charge. He wasn't over the hill just yet.

* * *

Charlie grabbed her bag from the car and tried desperately to pull away from Rachel and Quinn, she _hated_ driving them to school, all they did was basically dry hump in the back seat. It's like they didn't even care that she was around. Two years ago her father had said that if she got a mate then he'd buy her a new car, which meant he'd take her down to Al Motta's used car lot and pull her away from the sports cars and towards some old car that was falling apart. She wasn't interested then and she wasn't interested now.

"Hey Charlie, remember what dad said—you need to start making an effort in finding a mate," Quinn called out.

Rachel nods, "Don't worry, I've talked it over with Quinn and we've decided we're going to help you—"

"Please don't," Charlie interrupts, sniffing the air. McKinley still smelled like a dump and it was a sea of teenage pheremones and desperation. It was going to be another headache, but at least she had a list of unclaimed omegas she could go see if it came down to it.

Rachel continued as if Charlie hadn't even spoken. "By interviewing all the unclaimed omega's. Don't worry, Quinn will be with me all times so we can screen all the ones that will just be a disaster for you to mate with." Rachel said brightly, they had completed a personality test for Charlie and they had an idea of who would be compatible with the surly Fabray. Though truthfully it was a test to make sure that they got along with her. So they could go on double dates and do other fun couple things together.

Charlie stopped and turned to inform them what a _terrible_ idea that was, when she was hit with the most intoxicating smell she had ever experienced. It was better than the smell of bacon in the morning, more sweet than the scent of a regular omega in heat. This was _incredible_. It was like a high that she never wanted to come down from, like being surrounded by the most elegant luxurious things in the entire world and she salivated for the opportunity to simply stay in the scent's presence. Her eyes dilated and she groaned a bit, today was not the day to be wearing tight pants. Or any pants for that matter. "Do you smell that?" Charlie asked looking at her twin.

Quinn sniffed and rolled her eyes, "Someone's in heat, someone's _always_ in heat." She studied her twin for a moment. "Dad wants you to make an effort in finding your mate remember?" Quinn said snapping her fingers in front of Charlie's face. "Which means no more sleeping with unclaimed omegas."

Charlie flicked her eyes to Quinn for a moment before inhaling again, she _needed_ to find who was making that delightful smell, before someone else got to it first. It didn't matter she was quite willing to put whichever alpha made a move on that omega down. She pauses surprised at her possessive nature, this wasn't her omega. It couldn't be. She normally didn't care, but the thought of this mysterious person being with someone else? Well that just wouldn't do. She takes a few steps towards where the scent is coming from when she feels a tight grip around her wrist causing her to turn to Quinn.

"No, you're not going to head off to go and find an omega right now. We're _going to_ class," she wasn't going to allow Charlie to go off and head towards the omega classrooms. Charlie had a tendency to get into trouble especially with the other alphas for being around their claimed mates. Her father wasn't joking when he said that other alphas would see her as a threat. She frowned when Charlie tried to pull her arm free. This wasn't good.

Rachel frowned ever so slightly, taking a step back in case Charlie decided to take a swing at Quinn, "I'll ask around Charlie, it shouldn't take long to find them. I'll see you during the break and keep you updated."

Charlie frowned she wanted to find the scent _now_. "Fine—but if you see any alpha's sniffing around tell me," Charlie grumbled.

Quinn shook her head and leaned in to kiss Rachel quickly, "I'll miss you," she mumbles against her lips and smiles at her. "I have to go make sure this one doesn't do anything stupid." Quinn tilts her head toward Charlie who was still looking around. She sighs and pulls her twin with her. "Don't do anything that will get us in trouble. It's our senior year, we don't want to start the day off on the wrong foot."


	2. Chapter 2

Of all the days for her to enter  heat , today had to be the worst. Being the new transfer was hard enough, but going into heat when she didn’t know anyone, where she wasn’t friends with any omegas who were claimed, was a nightmare. It made it open season on her, and even though her parents had offered to let her stay at home until she was no longer in heat, she had idiotically decided that she was going to go to school. She didn’t want to be the weird kid who showed up to school late. She wanted to be annoyed with her parents for transferring her into McKinley during her senior year, but her father had been transferred and there was nothing that she could do. So she sucked it up and came to school. Worst decision ever.

She ignored the stares by various alphas as she turned down the hall. Some were so juvenile they couldn’t even avoid an erection at the smell of her. Idiots. No thank you, she shook her head in annoyance and checked her schedule for her next class. She did not need or want some alpha in her life messing with everything she had worked for. She was more than some baby making factory or personal assistant, even if she didn’t know exactly what she wanted to do with her life it was a hell of a lot more than being at some alpha’s beck and call. Alphas should figure out how to make  themselves  happy, not wait around for an omega to take care of them. Or at the very least grow up, it was common knowledge that they were ruled by their base desires until they mated. 

She glanced down at her schedule to remind herself where she was going next. English, that was by the labs. She vaguely remembered it from her tour of the building that the principal had given her and turns left. All she really had to do was follow the stench of chemicals and she’d find it. Hopefully. The school wasn’t  that  bad, sure omegas and alphas were separated but that was only because alphas who  hadn’t mated  yet had a hard time controlling themselves around omegas who were in heat. While her old school had integrated alphas and omegas, most schools in rural areas kept them separate because they didn’t have enough staff to keep the alphas in line.

She turned and went down the stairs, frowning when she realized that she was getting further from the chemical smell. She wrinkled her nose in disgust as the smell of teenaged boys wafted toward her nose. This wasn’t good and she quickly stopped to reassess her current spot in the school.It was a complex wave of scents and the smell of teenaged boys was getting closer. She sighs maybe she could ask for help. Sure alphas were a pain in the ass, but she was just asking for directions. 

“Hey gorgeous,” A tall lanky boy lumbered toward her. She noticed a few other alphas lining the hallway behind him, effectively cutting off her means of escape. Damn it. Where were the damn omegas in this school?

“Look, Gigantor, I’m just heading to class. Where’s the English department?” She pressed.

Finn narrowed his eyes and tried to ignore the stifled chuckles behind him. He was still reeling from his omega mating with that stupid Fabray. She was supposed to be his, and now this new omega thought she could deny him too? He smiled winningly, “Why would you want to do that? I’m here. You’re here, we could go find a quiet room and I could take care of that for you.” He suggested charmingly.

Santana rolled her eyes. While he probably intended to be charming, his smile looked more like a grimace than anything. Despite the throbbing between her thighs, she wasn’t about to join anyone for a quick fuck, let alone someone who smelled like pizza and sweaty socks. “Thanks, but I can manage on my own.” 

Finn frowned when there was a bit more laughter from the guys, she wasn’t claimed which meant that she couldn’t just say  no . “Look being my mate comes with perks. No one will mess with you, I’ll take good care of you—”

Santana frowned, and tilted her head to look at the other guys that looked highly amused by the whole thing. “Can any of you point me to the English department?” She asked.

“You’re going the wrong way, head back up the stairs, go back down the hallway till you get to the art classroom then take then take a right turn. It’s right beside the chemistry lab.” One of the alpha’s spoke up. “Come on Finn it’s obvious she’s not interested and we’ve got to get to class. You heard Coach Beiste, if we end up missing class the whole team is in deep shit.”

Finn frowned at this and reached forward to grab Santana’s wrist holding her in place, ignoring her attempts to pull free. “You sure I can’t take care of that for you—” he’s cut off by the slap across the face. 

“Let go of me,” his grip is tight and she knows it’s going to make a bruise but she wasn’t going to deal with this bullshit anymore. “I said  no , I don’t want to be with a slob like you. You’ll make me look bad, and what’s more important I don’t want to smell like day-old pizza and dirty gym socks. When was the last time you showered?” Santana snaps as she attempts to pull her wrist out of his grip. 

Finn ground his teeth angrily, accidentally gripping Santana’s wrist tighter in the process. He was the captain of the football team. She would be  lucky to be with him. “You think you can talk to me like that and—”

Santana has had enough. She brings up her knee, catching him in the groin which frees her instantly from his grasp. He falls to his knees, his various buddies watching in shock and she smirks at the sight. “Quick word of warning? When an omega says no, we mean no. So leave me the fuck alone.” She pushed past the line of alphas and made her way toward the classroom. Anyone who said she needed an alpha was an idiot.

 

* * *

Santana grimaced at the smell of the cafeteria. Was it too late for her to insist she be home schooled? She watched as most of the students accepted some weird sludgy mystery meat. Gross. “I’ll have the salad.” She spoke mostly to herself, taking a bowl onto her tray and pressing through the line.

She sits alone. It should bother her, and it definitely would have at her old school, but she doesn’t have it in her to care. Most of the unclaimed omegas sit together in the corner of the room, away from the attention of the other alphas. Some mated alphas and omegas sit together, so lost in each other’s presence that it’s almost sickening. She picks at her salad, it was going to be a  long  year, but then she was going to be  free . 

She’s about to eat into her salad, or what passes as a salad in Lima, Ohio when someone’s scent hits her, the smell of bacon and cinnamon buns. It’s a weird combination but right now it smells absolutely delightful and she looks around but then shakes her head. She doesn’t have time to deal with someone who smells like baked goods. She opens her backpack and pulls out  Pride and Prejudice and flips open the book. She hated the book already but it was required reading, and if she attempted to read it at home she would never get it done. 

“There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you.”

Santana looks up at the blonde alpha who sits across from her a brown paper bag in her hands. She eyes the bag curiously and then looks back into the hazel eyes that were studying her. Well that certainly explained the smell of bacon and baked goods. “Can I help you?” she asks frowning, she wasn’t in the mood to smack another alpha she was going to get a reputation. 

The blonde pushes the brown paper bag towards her, those hazel eyes watching every move that she made.  “Eat.” 

She blinked and stared at the brown paper bag for a moment and reached for it, not quite sure why she was doing what this alpha was ordering her to do. But she opens the bag and pulls out the ziploc bag filled with cookies. There was also a sandwich wrapped in saran wrap and she slowly unwraps it and takes a bite. It’s delicious, almost heavenly, and there is a surge through her of an emotion she’s never felt before. Almost pride? Something like satisfaction? She shakes her head, trying to clear the mess from her mind. “Who are you?” She asks, taking another bite.

The alpha nods, apparently satisfied with Santana’s obedience. “It’s good?” She ignores the question for the moment to focus on the important things. She feels a drive and a protective instinct that she’s never experienced before.

Santana nods, her eyes narrowing even as she takes another bite. “Yeah, but you still have to tell me your name.”

“Charlie.” The alpha finally explains and it’s almost like she’s tripping over her own words to explain. “I’m Charlie. Charlie Fabray. I’m your mate.”

That makes Santana put down the sandwich. As heavenly as it had been, nothing is worth some stupid alpha thinking they would mate with her. She didn’t  want a mate and she was perfectly happy with things just the way they were. “Come again?” She asks.

“I’m your mate.” Charlie declares, saying it a second time because it was just so right. It was like everything in her life had led to this moment, everything suddenly clicking into place. Santana was  hers . 

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen.” Santana slides the sandwich back to Charlie. 

Charlie’s brow furrows and for a second Santana expects her to explode like the other alpha did in the hall today, even though something inside her knows that Charlie won’t. “Why not?” The blonde asks instead.

“Because I’m not interested.” Santana explained slowly, idly itching at her wrist. What was so hard to understand about that? She didn’t want an alpha. Plain and simple.

Charlie narrowed her eyes at the darkish circles on her mate’s wrist. “Who did that to you?” She growls. She’ll kill them. It was almost certainly left by another alpha and the thought made Charlie sick. They had touched her  mate,  and they’d be lucky if they could find their dick in a plastic bag when she was through with them.

Santana followed the alpha’s gaze toward her wrist and shrugged. “Doesn’t matter, I took care of it.” She nearly falls off her seat when Charlie leans in and inhales deeply. “What are you—”

“ Finn .” Charlie hisses, she understands the hesitation. She hadn’t been there to protect her. She pushes the food back to Santana. “Eat, I’ll take care of it.” 

Santana frowns ever so slightly. She may be an alpha but the guy was bigger than her. It wasn’t a fair fight. “I already took—”

“Eat,” Charlie repeats getting up and tilting her head towards where the other football players sat. She immediately moved towards them, those that caught sight of her immediately scrambled away as she walked up to Finn. She tapped him on the shoulder and waited until he turned around before slamming her fist hard into his face. He crumpled and Santana could swear that she saw a few teeth fly from his mouth. Charlie doesn’t hesitate to grab him and by his shirt, not caring that it rips under her hand as she practically drags the dead weight back to Santana. She dumps his body in front of the table at her feet. 

Santana eyes Finn, and she looks back at Charlie keeping her face as neutral as possible, despite the ache between her thighs—which was quickly becoming unbearable in Charlie’s presence. She had handled him quickly and effectively, honestly it was sort of  hot . “I told you that I already took care of him.” 

Charlie tilts her head and a slow grin crosses her face, it was Finn she was certain there was some omegas that could take him out. So she was pleased that her mate wasn’t weak. “Good, I helped.” She nudges him with her foot and crinkles her nose. He smelled awful. She hadn’t completely thought this through.  She shoves him away with her foot and moves to get closer to Santana. “I’ll bring you lunch every day,” Charlie informs her. 

Santana flicks her eyes down at the sandwich, it really was delicious and the cookies smelled divine but she wasn’t going to allow Charlie to put strings on her. “No. That’s fine, I didn’t know the food was so bad here. I’ll start bringing my own lunch. I’m not interested in being your omega.” 

“Why?” Charlie questions, confused by this response. She had shown how strong she was, well not really. It was just Finn. Maybe she had done something to offend her mate. 

Santana groaned inwardly, what was with this school. She takes the cookies that Charlie had given to her and puts them in the front of her backpack. “Does it matter? I’m not interested in being your mate. Now if you’ll excuse me I need to start reading this book in  peace .” She gets up, she certainly wasn’t going to mate with someone who could be bothered to learn her name. She looks at the blonde for a moment and pinches the bridge of her nose. “Thank you for lunch, maybe I’ll see you around.” Santana said before turning around and walking off. She starts slowly but when Charlie makes no move to come after her she relaxes. It was a nice enough day outside, she would read on one of the benches.

Charlie watches her mate leave just as she feels the presence of Quinn and Rachel, they smell like they just had a quick romp in the janitor’s closet and she crinkles her nose in disgust. She turns and snatches Quinn’s lunch bag from her. “Share with Rachel.”

Quinn immediately moves to grab her lunch back and put Charlie through a table when Rachel touches her her arm and smiles. “You know your mother always packs far too much anyway,” Rachel said, the last things he needed was for Quinn to get a detention, the closet hadn’t been enough and she craved to feel Quinn inside her again. 

Quinn frowned and grabbed half of her damn sandwhich and her bag of cookies back from Charlie before smacking her hard upside the head. “So who was that?” Quinn asked taking a bite out of her cookie as she moved to sit beside Rachel. 

“My mate,” Charlie informs her as if it was obvious and Quinn begins to cough. 

“Wait, what?” She demanded, turning to see if she could get a better glimpse of the woman that Charlie had chosen. She finally rests her eyes on Finn who is finally getting up and puts a protective arm around Rachel. “What’s her name?” Quinn said finally turning back to Charlie, she would get the details about what happened to Finn later. She would also track down the person who had gotten it on video so she could watch it on a loop. Quinn eyes her twin, noting that her eyes have widened like she’s forgotten something. “You forgot to ask didn’t you?” Quinn says with a sigh.

“Oh that’s Santana, she’s the new transfer student I have her in my math class, she sits behind me.” Rachel said brightly. “I didn’t know that’s who you were talking about—”

“Santana,” Charlie repeats trying the name out, tuning Rachel out.. “Santana.” A small pleased grin slips onto Charlie’s face. It was a beautiful name for her omega now she just needed to figure out how to get her to agree to be her omega. She was strong, and she wanted that in her partner. Maybe she should just take out the entire football like she had taken out Finn. That would definitely reassure Santana that she was a capable alpha of protecting her. 


	3. Chapter 3

Judy blinked as her youngest daughter came in with music blaring in her ears, singing along to some ridiculous rap song. She was dancing as well, well what Charlie assumed was dancing. It was odd, it was a far cry from the general grunts that she'd been getting over the years. Her daughter had been getting surly ever since puberty had hit. Russell had said that it was just part of being a teenager, but she was just so angry all the time. The fighting, the bluntness, the staying out of the house for long periods of time. She suspected that Charlie had been having sex with various unclaimed omegas though she attempted to hide the evidence. But this —this was new. "Good day at school today?" Judy asked as she wiped the island down. She expected some grunt but instead she was rewarded with a smile from her daughter.

"Yep."

Words. She had said a word. _Finally_ , there was some progress. "Are Quinn and Rachel—"

"Yep."

Judy shook her head fondly, she remembered when she and Russell had first found each other. They had barely been able to be apart for a few moments. She could only imagine how hard it was for Quinn and Rachel to make it through their separate classes. She waited for Charlie's typical comment of disgust, only it never came. Interesting. "Anything interesting happen at school today?"

"Not really." Charlie shrugged, choosing an apple from the bowl of fruit instead of the cold bacon from the fridge.

Judy arched her brow. Now she _knew_ something was up. "I'm making some of my gingersnaps, if you want to wait."

"No thanks," Charlie said with a shrug. "Apple's fine. I've got homework and I think I'm going to go for a run later."

A _sentence_. An actual sentence. A sentence including the word _exercise._ Something had _definitely_ happened at school today and Quinn wasn't around to sell Charlie out. She would have to get to the bottom of this. There was one thing playing on her mind and she moves to her youngest child and runs a hand through her hair. "You know you need a haircut. Maybe you could spend some time with your old mom, we could go to the spa, get a pedicure. You know, treat ourselves to a nice day—"

Charlie touches her hair for a moment and then looks down at her clothes, the tattered jeans and she frowns for a moment, "Can we also get some new clothes?"

It was only years of parenting that kept her from showing her shock. She had been gently encouraging Charlie to buy some new clothes for ages but had always been abruptly dismissed. "Of course." She nodded like it wasn't a big deal. "It's important to look nice."

Charlie nodded at that, thinking the same thing. Maybe Santana would like her even more if she could see that Charlie could take care of her, and wasn't some wild brute. "Can I also get two packed lunches tomorrow?"

"Sure." Judy agreed instantly, then her hand stilled as she realized what exactly Charlie was asking for. "An extra lunch?" She asked, clarifying, not daring to hope that this meant what she thought it did.

"Yeah, there's a new girl at school." Charlie shrugged as if it didn't matter at all one way or another.

But Judy saw straight through the facade. This time Judy had to try very hard to keep the delight off her face. This was so exciting, "Oh?"

Charlie moved to get a glass of water. "Yeah. She made the mistake of getting lunch from the cafeteria, so I gave her my lunch. Then I took Quinn's."

Judy frowned. That wouldn't do. No mate of her child would eat that detestable garbage the school deemed fit to feed growing teenagers. "Good." Judy encouraged. Quinn could stand missing a meal or two, though with the activities she and Rachel got up to, she was pretty sure that Quinn was starving around the clock. She made a note to make a little extra for dinner tonight. She shook her head and focused at the task at hand, hesitant to say anything that might spook Charlie from this new girl. "So your new friend, she's an omega?"

Charlie crinkles her nose, suddenly realizing what her mother was doing. "I've got to get a start on my homework," Charlie says with a shake of her head. "Bye mom." With that Charlie grabbed her bag and escaped upstairs.

It took years of practice to keep herself composed and Judy quickly checked on the cookies she was baking before running to her purse to grab her phone. She just _had_ to tell her husband, and more importantly Brittany. She slipped her phone out of her pocket with a simple message to her oldest daughter, ' _IT HAPPENED!'_ Satisfied that Brittany would be calling as soon as she saw it. She dialed her husband and waited for him to pick up, she was practically bouncing on her heels.

Russell answered almost immediately. ' _Judy is everything okay?'_ He asked, his voice taking on the same panicked tone it always did when she called him at work.

"Everything's fine, better than fine. I think Charlie found a mate." Judy's voice dropped to a hushed whisper as she said this. She didn't want to alert Charlie and spook her.

"Really?" Russell asked skeptically, they had just talked about this the day before, Charlie was not a fast mover by any stretch of the imagination.

"There's a new girl at school. Charlie _gave_ this new girl her lunch. She came home and ate an apple and mentioned something about going for a run. She found herself a mate. Which means you need to give her the talk again. Talk to her about it, she's not going to talk to me about it."

* * *

Russell knocked on Charlie's door which was opened just a crack and pushed it open, "You busy?" he asks when she turns to look at him from where she was working on her laptop.

Charlie frowned ever so slightly but nodded to her bed for her dad to sit down. He didn't usually enter her room which meant she was in for another lecture. "Not really," it was better to get it over with then push it off.

Russell nods and looks around studying Charlie's room, letting the silence between them to grow a bit awkward. There were trophies, of course there were all of his children were talented and he was very proud of all three of them. "So you want to tell me about your new omega friend?" he asks finally.

"No?" Charlie cringes, hoping this wasn't the conversation she thought it was. Russell levied a look at her and she sighed. "It's not a big deal, just some girl." Her chest twisted painfully at the lie, she didn't know that was possible.

Russell nods, he had been in this position with Quinn before and even Brittany, sure it was a little late when it came to Charlie but at least they were having this conversation. "Charlie," he presses. "You don't share your food, in fact you and Quinn used to go at it even when you were toddlers for food." Maybe when Judy wasn't looking he had encouraged it a tiny bit. That had been a mistake.

Charlie crinkles her nose, her fingers drumming in a steady beat on her desk. There was several ways this could go. But the sooner he found out what he wanted to know, the sooner he would leave. "Her name is Santana." Charlie says after a moment. "She's strong and capable and she's going to be my mate."

Russell smiles proudly, "She agreed to it then?" That was quick, but then again this was a member of his family. Fabrays simply knew what they wanted, Brittany had wanted Mike. Quinn had wanted Rachel and now Charlie wanted this Santana person. He hadn't expected for Charlie to stumble into her soulmate the very next day. He noticed the frown that crossed Charlies face. "Charlie?" he prompted.

"She said no," Charlie admits slowly.

Russell smirked. "Well maybe should fight another alpha for her, show her that you can take care of her." He suggested. That was how he had won Judy's affection, and Quinn had followed in his footsteps. Omegas liked to know they could be taken care of, it was one of the reasons the school would look the other way when it came to violence between alphas.

"I already did that." Charlie sighs. She's been wracking her brain for other ways to show Santana that she is the best alpha. Everybody else made it look so easy.

His brow furrowed. "And you gave her your lunch?"

"Yeah."

He paused for a minute, thinking. "Then what are you supposed to do?"

Charlie threw up her hands, "I don't know!"

Russell shook his head, trying to get back on topic. Maybe Judy could offer some ideas but first he needed to finish this conversation. "Well, we'll figure that out later. Right now I need to talk to you about mating—"

Charlie stared at him, and held up her hands. "I know," there was a horrified expression on her face. "Trust me I know."

"Then you're aware that even though there is nothing in this world that is more pleasing to have your mate pregnant—" Russell reached for Charlie, grabbing her before she could bolt. They needed to have this conversation. "You can't get her pregnant yet. You're eighteen, you haven't even finished high school yet. I'm not saying that you can't mate with her, I'm not even saying that you shouldn't be having sex. We _know_ it's impossible for you to resist the urge once you finally mate, but you can't get her pregnant. So we're going to talk about contraception—"

Charlie groans. He's really going to force her to sit through this. "I know how to use a condom." She admits quickly, hoping that's enough.

It isn't. "You know how to use a condom with an omega that isn't your mate." He corrects. "It's an entirely different feeling when it involves your mate. It's incredible, indescribable, but you _have_ to remember that the two of you just aren't ready to be parents yet."

"Okay, fine. Can I go back to my homework now?" She asked, almost pleading. She really didn't want to talk about this with her dad of all people. If she _really_ had questions, she'd ask Quinn—better yet, she'd look it up on the internet.

Russell continued, "Brittany was on the pill, I believe that Rachel is as well—it's not mandatory that you use condoms. It's a conversation that you should have with your mate _before_ the two of you have sex, because once you start it will be difficult to stop."

Charlie groans, "I get it have a conversation with her. I get it." It would be hard to do considering that Santana was currently in heat which made it nearly impossible to control herself. She pauses for a moment and looks at her father. "About that car you promised me if I got my mate—" she smiles. She was tired of smelling like Quinn and Rachel who always humped while she was basically chauffeur. It grossed her out to no end.


	4. Chapter 4

Santana cursed, tripping down the last few stairs when she saw the time. She was running late, she’d be lucky if she got a bite of breakfast before they had to leave. She blew into the kitchen, grabbing an orange. “Papi, can we go? I’m going to be late.”

Her mother simply arched her brow and Santana sighed but complied with the unspoken order.

“Maybe you should have thought of that and gotten up a little earlier.” Maribel chided, watching her only child obediently slide up to the kitchen table next to her father. Breakfast, in their house, was a family affair and she wouldn’t stand for that to change because of the move.  She watches as Santana begins to unpeel the orange and frowns when she notices the bruise on her wrist and reaches out to gently touch it. She knew what it was immediately, “What happened?” It was framed as a question but it wasn’t, not really.

“One of the alpha’s got handsy. He didn’t quite understand what _no_ meant, apparently since I was in heat it meant that I was supposed to sleep with him because he was the quarterback or something stupid like that. I kicked him in the nads and walked away.” Santana explained and shrugged.

Carlos frowned. “Are you sure you shouldn’t stay home?” He glanced over to his wife and caught her eye, somewhat relieved that they were both having the same thoughts. “At least until you’re out of heat?” He suggested.

Santana rolled her eyes. “I’m fine.” At the matching looks of skepticism from her parents, she shook her head. “No, it’s really okay. I’ve got another alpha who is kind of looking out for me.”

“Oh?” Her parents both sat forward at that, her mother doing a terrible job of stifling an excited grin and her father didn’t even bother. “Is she nice?”

Santana shrugged, peeling her orange and glancing at the clock again. “She was a little rude and kind of weird, but sure. She seemed nice.”

“That’s it, just nice?” Carlos prodded, his grin broad.

“Yep. That’s it.” Santana insisted firmly. “Now can one of you take me to school, _please_?” She hated that they didn’t let her drive herself, but no amount of pestering had changed their mind.

Carlos glanced at Maribel, the two of them having an unspoken conversation. Getting the information out of Santana would be difficult, but he might have some luck doing it. “Alright, I’ll take you to school,” he says waiting until Maribel nods at him before getting up.

Santana didn’t wait for her mother’s permission instead she went back to the counter and grabbed her bag. “Bye mom, see you after school,” she said moving quickly to place a kiss on her cheek and then practically pulling her father with her so she could get to school before the first bell. She still got somewhat lost around the school and she didn’t want to have a run in with Finn again or Charlie. Those hazel eyes—it takes all her power not to shiver when there’s a jolt between her thighs. She _hated_ being in heat.

~O~

Santana shifted in her seat as her Dad pulled up in front of the school. He had not so subtly been interrogating her the whole drive.

“Are you _sure_ you don’t want to stay home?” Carlos asked once again, just to be sure. High school had to be hard enough without being in heat.

“I’m sure.” Santana assured, unclipping her seatbelt as he turned around the corner. She startled when a blonde streak of hair flashed across the corner of her eye and pulled the door open for her.

“Santana! There you are. I was worried something happened.” Charlie smiled, holding the door open for her.

Santana frowned. “So you figured out my name?” She could practically feel her Dad’s excited smile that she knew he was watching every second even without turning around to check.

Charlie nodded. “Yep. Rachel told me.” She grinned broadly and stuck her hand into the car. “Nice to meet you, Sir. I’m Charlie Fabray and I’m going to be—”

Santana didn’t let the alpha finish the sentence. The _last_ thing she needed was her parents’ meddling. Or worse, getting into her personal affairs. She moved quickly, sliding out the door, her body pressing against Charlie’s which seemed to cause her to stop speaking distracted by the pheromones she was giving off. “I’m going to be late—come on. Bye Papi, I’ll see you after school.” She closed the door before he could say anything and turned to see Charlie waving at him before she closed her eyes and grabbed Charlie’s wrist and pulled her away from her father. She was surprised when the alpha followed her without any complaint until they were inside the school. “What was that?” she demands angrily, suddenly realizing how close Charlie is and taking a few steps back.

A confused look appeared on Charlie’s face, her mate was annoyed. “It’s polite matters to introduce yourself,” she explains. “I should get to know your parents, so they can see that I’m a good mate. I need to assure them that I’ll take—”

“For the last time. You are not my mate.” Santana ground out.

“—good care of you,” Charlie continues as if Santana hadn’t said a word. “And my dad says that we should talk about birth control. Are you taking birth control or would I need to wear a condom because—”

“Look.” Santana grabbed the alpha’s wrist and whirled her around, stopping Charlie from continuing. “You seem nice. But seriously, you aren’t mating with me. Go find someone else.”

“I don’t _want_ anyone else.” Charlie admitted in a whine. She stood straighter. “You aren’t convinced yet. What should I do—” She cut herself off with a shake of her head. “You know what? Nevermind. I’ll figure it out.” Charlie nods. She’ll make sure Santana knows what a great alpha she’ll be. She just has to be creative.

“ _Find_ someone else. I’m not interested. Don’t try and impress me, don’t try and do anything. I’m fine and I can take care of myself—most importantly stay away from my parents.” The last thing she needed was her parents parading Charlie in front of her or _worse_ allowing her into the house.  “Now if you’ll excuse me—I’ve got English.”

“I’ll walk you to class,” Charlie said reaching for her backpack.

“I can carry my backpack, I don’t need you walking me to class—” she’s about to walk away when she realizes that she doesn’t know how to get to the classroom from here. She growls a bit mostly to herself when she turns to look at Charlie who is just standing there. “Quickest way to the English department?” she asks, holding her hand up. “I don’t need you to show me, just tell me.”

“Up the stairs, take a right.” Charlie says and shifts her own bag on her shoulder as she walks with Santana.

“I said that I don’t need you to follow me,” Santana gripes at Charlie.

“I have chemistry,” Charlie points out, they were going in the same direction. “Are you sure you don’t want me to carry your bag for you?”

Santana let out a loud groan and stormed away.

Charlie frowned and scratched her cheek. Her mate was angry with her again and she didn’t quite understand why. She’d have to try again at lunch.


	5. Chapter 5

“Maybe, I should take out the entire football team.” Charlie mused as she paced back and forth around the living room. Santana may be reluctantly eating the food that she brought for her, but was still adamant that she wasn’t going to be her mate. “I mean, she’s been in school long enough to know that taking out Finn isn’t really that impressive. She took Finn out herself,” Charlie says tilting her head. The thought pleased her to no end and yet she worried. Santana shouldn’t _have_ to lift a finger she was supposed to do all of that.

Russell frowned, “Are you sure she’d be impressed by that? Didn’t your little fight with Quinn convince her that you were very capable?”

Quinn scowled, remembering how Charlie had ended the fight by putting her through one of the lunch tables. The fight wasn’t supposed to be real, and they were both supposed to hold back, but Charlie hadn’t, and soon they had brawled all over the lunch room but she had let Charlie win. She made sure that Rachel knew that. “It should have.”

Rachel frowned and rubbed her alpha’s knee. “It was very convincing.” She assured Quinn.

“Did you try walking her to class?” Mike suggested. “That’s how I got Brittany to notice me.”

“I _tried_. She said _no._ ” Charlie shook her head running her forefinger and thumb against her jaw thoughtfully. There had to be something she was missing. “All she does is eat the lunches I bring for her. I don’t know what else to do!” She was whining now and she didn’t care. Her mate was stubborn and infuriating, and yet she simply wanted her more. It was maddening.

“Well,” Judy began slowly. “There has to be something that you did.” Of course Charlie would pick someone who didn’t seem receptive to her. “Is there anything that you noticed?” Judy asked looking at Rachel.

Rachel bit her lip, while Quinn and Charlie  had been fighting which was common for them, she had noticed that Santana’s eyes were on Charlie the entire time, wincing whenever she got hurt, she cared in a way but then Charlie would go right back up to her and talk about being mates, which immediately seemed to turn Santana off. “I don’t think—I mean the first time Charlie talked to her, she didn’t even get her name. I had to tell it to her,” Rachel admits slowly.

Brittany groaned. “What were you thinking, Chuck? You didn’t even ask her name?”

“Who needs to know her name? She’s my _mate_.” Charlie retorted quickly as though it were obvious.

Judy sighed. That definitely explained some things. She spoke up before Brittany or Rachel could berate Charlie further. “Well, sweetheart, that might be the source of your problem. Maybe you just got off on the wrong foot.”

Russell shook his head, still musing thoughtfully over the situation. It didn’t make any sense. He had taught both his twins how to be the perfect alpha, so how could an omega resist them? “That can’t be it. I didn’t know your name for the first month we were together.” The rest of the room went silent and he suddenly realized what he had just said.

“You didn’t?” Judy clarified, her voice low and threatening.

“No.” He shook his head. “Of course I did. I just meant—” Seeing his wife’s disbelieving glare, he cleared his throat. “Maybe we should focus on Charlie?” He suggested.

“Yes,” Judy replied, her tone clipped. “We should.”

Quinn glanced around deciding to come to Charlie’s aid, “Santana’s been in _heat_ all week long.” It was maddening. When Rachel was in heat, she could barely concentrate in class, all she thought about was mating with her again and again. The fact Charlie wasn’t walking around with a permanent erection near Santana was astounding. “It’s not exactly normal—” Quinn was cut off by a growl from Charlie.

“It wouldn’t be the first time,” Charlie points out. Immediately jumping to Santana’s defense.

“Yeah, if you were having sex. You’re not. So either her heats are just longer than three days, but part of the reason you’ve been so keen on mating with her is because she’s in heat. It’s like a cloud up in your mind,” Quinn scoffs and grins at Rachel. “It’s all I think about when you’re in heat.”

Charlie crinkled her nose at the display, “Focus,” she reminds them crossing her arms over her chest.

“Quinnie’s got a point, though.” Brittany pointed out. “If she’s in heat, she’s terribly uncomfortable. She _really_ must not like you if she is turning you down when she’s in heat.”

“Gee, thanks Brittany.” Charlie scoffed. “Way to make me feel better.”

Brittany grins at her youngest sister, “That’s what I’m here for.”

“Charlie, I think what Brittany is trying to say is that maybe you should try and get to know her.” Rachel broke in, trying to help.

“Well, no. That’s not what I was trying to say. But that works too.”

Judy ignores her oldest child and instead picks up on where Rachel left off. “If she’s turning you down it’s because you don’t make her feel completely comfortable.”

“What’s to know? She’s my _mate_.” Charlie frowned. What was so difficult about this? Santana was supposed to be impressed. Clearly she wasn’t and that meant that Charlie was doing something wrong.

Judy, Rachel, and Brittany groaned collectively. “That’s it. You’re beyond our help.” Brittany frowned.

Judy exhales slowly, “She doesn’t _know_ you. She’s at a new school, she doesn’t have many friends, I’m sure she will eventually but change is difficult. So for now, why don’t you simply put it aside and just be her friend. Because right now it seems that you care more about _having_ sex with her then knowing her. Choosing a mate is a big decision, and while omegas can reject mate bonds, if we accept it, then we’re with that person forever. You’ve shown her that you can take care of her, you’ve shown that you care that she eats, but it’s not just about that. So take some time and get to know her. Maybe show her around town. Let her come to you when she’s ready. Because you’re chasing her and it’s not working.”

Charlie stared at her mother and frowned, she had a point. She hadn’t even thought about how hard this must be for her mate. At least other alpha’s knew not to mess around with Santana. “I’ll try it your way,” she says after a moment. “But if it doesn’t work, I’m going to fight the football team for her.”

“That’s the spirit!” Russell said a pleased look on his face.

“Russell,” Judy groaned, she really wished he would stop encouraging the behavior. She had thought he had talked to her about this, but clearly he hadn’t done a very good job. It was a wonder Quinn had managed to bring home a mate all on her own. Then again it _was_ Charlie.

~O~

Santana Lopez entered the cafeteria, today was a good day. She was no longer in heat which meant she wasn’t attracting any unwanted attention from certain alpha’s who would not be named. It was the first day that Charlie hadn’t shown up first thing in the morning to greet her, much to her father’s disappointment. She would certainly miss the free lunches but she could always make something for herself, it would just require getting out of bed earlier. Something she wasn’t looking forward to. And it wasn’t as if the salad was _horrible_. It was edible—barely. She hummed as she paid for her salad and water and found an empty table. She was going to try and avoid Rachel who was trying to be her friend.

She pulls out a book to start reading while she eats when the smell of bacon and baked goods fills her senses and she looks up to see that Charlie was standing in front of her with two brown paper bags. “I’m not in heat anymore, so what are you doing here?” Santana questions.

“I’m your mate,” Charlie replies and frowns at the salad pushing the offending  thing away and hands Santana a paper bag with her name on it. When Santana frowns she holds up her hand. “I know, you don’t want to mate with me. We got off on the wrong foot but you have no idea what your scent does to me. I’m _sorry_ ,” she makes a face as she says this before looking at Santana. “I’m sorry for trying to push you into mating with me. I want to—try again?”

“Try what again?” Santana pressed, feeling mischievous delight when Charlie flushed nervously. “Last time I checked, we didn’t even get close to mating.”

Charlie licked her lips at the images that spring to mind. “I want to be friends.”

“You?” Santana eyed her skeptically. “Want to be friends with me?”

Charlie shrugged. “Yeah, why not?” Sure she didn’t actually have any omega friends but Santana was her future mate and maybe that would help her get comfortable with the idea of the two of them spending time together.

Santana shook her head slowly. This alpha was persistent, she had to give her that. But she also brought a damn good lunch. “Fine. Friends then.”

A pleased grin crosses Charlie’s face, and she studies Santana carefully waiting for her to start eating before starting to eat herself. “So—where did you transfer from?” Charlie asks after a moment. She needed to start somewhere and this was always a good place to start.

Santana eyed Charlie carefully. “I lived in Chicago before I came to Lima—my mom got transferred. It’s _quiet_ ,” Santana admits. There didn’t seem much to do around here for fun. “What do you do for fun? I mean apart from getting into senseless fights.”

Charlie scratches her cheeks she can tell that Santana is teasing her and it’s a good sign. Maybe she should go to her mother for advice instead of her dad. “I go to parties or I head into the city—you could come with me to the next party.” Come to think of it, she was pretty sure Puckerman was an omega. He didn’t go around broadcasting that fact, but he wasn’t in any of her classes. Though maybe he was an alpha and just never went to class. She shrugged. She’d have to make it clear that Santana was off-limits though.

Santana frowned, she wasn’t quite sure if she should start going to parties with Charlie.  “My parents probably wouldn’t let me go—” In fact her mom would probably freak they had been a bit skittish ever since she had come back with a bruise on her arm.

Charlie nods, “We can do something else—what do you like to do? You could come over to my house and—”

“No.” Santana said shooting down that idea. She wasn’t _stupid_ , she knew that Charlie probably wouldn’t try anything but it just seemed to a bad idea on her part. “Look—”

“Do you like to read?” Charlie asks picking up the book that Santana had placed on the table. “There are a few bookstores in town—”

“Don’t—” Santana says as the jacket on the book slips off revealing a hardcover graphic novel. She turned a bright red when the alpha stared at the novel before turning to look at her. Charlie’s hazel eyes danced in amusement. “I’ve given up on reading Pride and Prejudice.” She had gotten a chapter into the book before quitting.

“So you’re reading comic books in class?” Charlie asked.

“It’s a graphic novel.” Santana insists immediately reaching for it to snatch the book back. “They are simply another medium to tell stories in—”

“Where they wear their underwear over their pants?” Charlie teases and looks at the cover. “DMZ, volume one. What’s it about?” Charlie asks finally giving in and handing Santana her book back. She watched as Santana slipped the cover back onto the comic book.

“It’s about a second American civil war and a journalist who gets caught in the demilitarized zone that is New York. That’s what DMZ stands for by the way,” Santana explained. “It’s far more interesting than reading about Victorian women who are basically on the hunt for rich men to marry.”  

Charlie smiles at this, “I agree,” she leans in. “Even zombies doesn’t make the book any better,” she whispers to Santana. She watches as Santana flushes for a moment at how close they are and pulls back. “There’s a comic book store nearby, I could show it to you after class and you can show me what I can read through English class.”

Santana smiles at this. “What’s with this school and English Lit? Like could they pick anything more boring?”

“Last year we had to read Waiting for Godot. Two men standing around talking about nothing, it is the most boring book on the planet,” Charlie said with a shake of her head. “It’s supposed to mean _something_.”

“In my last school we at least got to read books that were interesting.” Santana rolls her eyes. “At least, as interesting as forced reading can get.”

“So the comic book store after school today?” Charlie presses and watches as Santana thinks about it.

“I’ll have to tell my parents where I’m going, they’re the ones that pick me up.” Santana muses, it does sound like fun and if they’re going to be reading boring books in English class then she was going to need to stock up. “But if they say that they’re okay with it, then yeah, I can pick out a few things for you to read.” There was a good chance that her parents _would_ be okay with it. They were this close to parading a bunch of alphas in front of her so she could pick someone.


	6. Chapter 6

Carlos carefully followed the car he had watched his baby girl enter a few minutes before. He had a good feeling about this. He was careful, following behind them in the other lane to avoid suspicion. He was _sure_ Santana hadn’t seen him yet because if she had she would probably be out of the car already to give him a piece of her mind.

 _‘Carlos? I can’t hear you. What’s happening now?’_ Maribel’s voice sounded through the Bluetooth.

“I’m still following the car.” He reminded her, chuckling a little at her excitement. He hadn’t waited more than a few seconds after giving the Santana the okay for her afternoon excursion before phoning his wife with the news. At this rate, they could be holding a mating ceremony before Christmas.

She sighed and he smirked at the frustration he could easily detect. _‘What type of car is it?’_

“It’s an older jeep.” He narrowed his eyes to try and figure out the model but he really should have brought his glasses.

He could practically feel his wife’s frown. _‘Maybe they don’t have money. That’s okay, money isn’t everything_ — _wait. What am I thinking? Get the license plate.’_

He had wondered how long it would take her to remember that she was a federal prosecutor with access to DMV records. He waited until they pulled up to a stoplight and rattled off the numbers and letters to Maribel.

She squealed with delight. _‘Oh Carlos, this car is registered to the Fabrays.’_ He could hear furious typing as she got caught up in what she was reading.

“Is that supposed to mean something?”

“It means Santana will want for _nothing_ ,” Maribel said. Russell was a prominent venture capitalist, she had seen him meeting the governor a few times. It was odd that he stayed in Lima when he could certainly afford the best education for his children.

Carlos shook his head, he could feel the excitement coming off his mate, “You know, she probably told us that she was going to the comic book store so she could sneak off and have a bit of fun—remember when we first met?”

Maribel laughs, it’s one that’s filled with nostalgia. “Yes. Remember, what we promised each other? Once Santana was gone you and I would finally be able to bring back naked—”

“The car’s slowing down,” he said eying the jeep which seemed to be in the process of parking. He frowns, they were in a commercial district not a residential one.

“Are they at her house?” Maribel demanded as she began to look up more information on Russell Fabray a picture of the happy family was found on Facebook. Three daughters. One was clearly a bit older than Santana, and then there were two twins. It must be one of them.

“No—they _actually_ went to a comic book store!” Carlos said disappointed at what he was witnessing as he looked at the comic book store. He could have sworn it was a euphemism for something else. “Where did we go wrong? She should want to get a mate Maribel.”

“Well, they did just meet,” Maribel points out and it was their daughter. Santana might be an omega but she took after her. Which made finding an alpha who was willing to deal with her strong personality nearly impossible. “This could be a date—we didn’t really expect her to fall for the first person that asked did we? I mean there have been many alphas who are interested but our daughter is _special_ and she deserves someone just as special.”

Carlos nods and watches as they both exit the car, he ducks a bit in his seat and fixes the baseball cap that he’s wearing so it’s covering a bit more of his face as he watches them carefully. A small smile crosses his face when he watches Charlie move quickly to open the door for Santana. “I think she’s found her,” Carlos whispers to his wife. He frowns when Charlie pauses and turns to where his car is parked and Carlos holds his breath as she studies the car for a moment before smiling at him and waving.  He looks around but he’s the only one around and he waves back. “She spotted me.”

“Santana?” Maribel asks frowning slightly, she would think that they didn’t trust her. They did but _still_.

“No Charlie, I think that’s what her name was,” Carlos whispered back. He’s not a hundred percent sure that was her name, but if it’s not right it’s definitely close. “She just smiled and waved at me, she’s inside now. I don’t think she’ll mention it to Santana though.”

“You should leave just in case Santana spots you,” Maribel says, they would have to get better at spying. Maybe she could ask the police department. She’s moderately impressed with this alpha, she’s observant for potential threats—she’s pretty sure she couldn’t _ask_ for a better alpha for her daughter, but she’ll reserve judgment until things are official.

Carlos ducks down when his daughter steps out of the car, holding his breath even though he knows there is no way that she could see him when Charlie angles her body between so that she’s blocks Santana’s view of his car.

“Carlos?” Maribel prods. “What’s happening?”

“The alpha kept her from seeing me.” He grins. If he didn’t like this girl already, this would be the icing on the cake. He sat up, watching as the alpha keeps his daughter occupied with conversation. He grins when Santana smiles and pushes into the comic book store.

"So she will be mated by Christmas?" Maribel questions hope in her voice.

"I think by Halloween." Carlos replies after a moment he had seen the look on Santana's face. It would be soon, perhaps the next time she entered heat.

“Want to bet Naked Tuesday’s?” Maribel asked playfully. Truthfully, there was no loser in this bet, but she was competitive and fairly certain that her baby was stubborn enough that there would be some sort of roadblock in the way.

Carlos laughed. “You like Naked Tuesday’s just as much as I do.” He shook his head. Definitely the next time she was in heat.

~O~

Charlie thumbed through the magazines packed tightly in a display bin. It was almost overwhelming, the nerd haven laid out in front of her, but the excitement that was clearly dancing in Santana’s eyes made it totally worth it.

“You could try this one?” Santana held up a comic book. She tried not to let her nervousness show. It wasn’t a big deal, she and Charlie were just being friends. What did it matter if Charlie liked it or didn’t? She didn’t care either way and she _definitely_ didn’t hold her breath to see Charlie’s reaction.

“V for Vendetta?” Charlie read the title. “Wasn’t there a movie about that?”

“Yeah.” Santana scratched her nose. “It’s about an anarchist revolutionary—”

“Sold. That’s way more interesting than Ulysses.” Charlie looked around.  The store was filled with comic books, toys, t-shirts, even a few board games. There was an old arcade box in the corner and it smelled like books, but they also had a few beaten up couches to read on. “What are you going to get?” Charlie asked looking back at Santana and raised a brow as Santana had moved on to look at the new Star Wars comics and begins to flip through them. “Star Wars?”

Santana blushes. “Yeah.”

Charlie nods, “I have a lightsaber—”

Santana crinkled her nose, “Is that supposed to be some sort of euphemism?” She glances down at the crotch of Charlie’s pants before turning her attention back to Charlie.

“—in my room,” Charlie finishes. “My dad took us to watch the newer movies when they came out.” She flashes Santana a smile. “If you’re interested in what I’m hiding behind my pants—”

Santana rolls her eyes. “If you have to hide it, it must not be that great to start with.” Santana scoffed, fighting a smirk when Charlie frowns. “Wait you saw the newer movies when they came out, what about the older ones?”

Charlie waved her hand dismissively. “I was kind of lost at the new ones, I never really cared to see any other ones.”

Santana dropped the comic she had been holding. “You’re kidding.”

“No?” Charlie said with another shrug. Her eyes catching sight of something orange and white darting around the floor. “Oh what’s that? I want one.”

“Never mind that, you haven’t seen the original Star Wars? I don’t know that we can even be friends until you see them.” Santana shook her head. Star Wars was an icon, how do you miss the best movies of an era?

Charlie frowned and finally looked up from the toy to look at Santana, that wouldn’t do at all. Being friends with Santana meant that she could spend time with her without Santana trying to get away from her. “So we’ll watch it together this weekend. You can come over, and we can watch it in the den.” Charlie said and paused, she might have to do something about her father. But she was sure she could convince him to leave them alone for a few hours.

Santana was about to argue with that idea when she remembered that she had parents who would properly pop in every few minutes to talk to Charlie or grill her for information. “Fine—but no funny business. I’m just going to your house to watch the original trilogy with you. Nothing else.”

Charlie was about to say something when her phone rings and she holds up her hand to excuse herself and picks up. “Quinn.”

“Where the hell are you?” Quinn snaps angrily.

“The comic book store.” Charlie answers, her eyes widening when she realized that she totally forgot to let Quinn know she was abandoning them to spend time with Santana. She doesn’t feel bad, it’s disgusting to chauffer them around all the time while they make out and hump each other in the back seat. It is a little funny, though. “Where the hell are you?” She counters, just to piss off her twin.

“I’m here with Rachel looking at an abandoned parking lot.” Quinn is so furious she’s practically spitting the words. “What am I supposed to do, make Rachel walk home?”

“You could carry her.” Charlie suggests helpfully.

“You’re supposed to be our ride.” Quinn reminds. “I’m going to call Dad.”

“You do that. School was finished an hour ago, so why are you just calling me now?” Charlie questions.

“That’s none of your business, it’s my car—”

“You skipped last period and went to go have sex in the auditorium didn’t you?” Charlie questions, cutting Quinn off. It figures. “Well, if I were you I’d call mom or walk home. I’m busy. Bye Quinn, say hello to Rachel for me.” With that Charlie ended the call and turned back to Santana. “So movies this weekend?”

Santana nods, “Do I want to know?” she asks nodding towards Charlie’s phone as she stuffs it back in her pocket.

“Quinn met Rachel, they mated. Our sixteenth birthday happened, and she got a car. Which was fine, dad said she had to take me wherever I wanted to go. Problem is Quinn and Rachel can’t keep their hands off each other, and I like living. So I drive them everywhere while they dry-hump in the back seat.”

“So she’s mad that you aren’t there to pick them up?”

“It’s hardly my fault, she’s an hour late. So she can wait for mom to pick them up.” Charlie shrugged again. “So what other comic books do you want me to read?”


	7. Chapter 7

Charlie pushed the bacon into her mouth and sipped her juice slowly, she had spent most of last night cleaning her room and making it comfortable for her mate. Today could be the day that she finally mated with her. It was a possibility which had plagued her mind and she had needed to calm herself down, and she had been in the middle of it till her father had banged on the door to the bathroom and informed her bluntly that she was wasting water.

Being Santana’s friend seemed to be working and her future mate was opening up to her—but it wasn’t just that. She liked her mate, she was smart and funny and quick. It left her frustrated, in more ways than one and it only made her desire grow more. She was actually enjoying reading the comic books that Santana suggested. She was a strong match—a strong _partner_ for her.

“Do you need me to make snacks?” Judy asked watching her daughter, “When is she supposed to be here?”

Charlie grunted as she drank her orange juice. “I told her that she could be here anytime she wanted.” Her house would always be open for her mate. She was sure that Rachel had a key, she would make sure that once they were mates Santana would have her very own key, and space to keep her things. She shoves some eggs into her mouth. “Snacks are good but you can’t bother us too much, and you can’t stare and do that thing where you smile really wide. This is important.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep your mother away,” Russell said not looking up from his newspaper when he gets a smack on the arm he looks up and winks at his wife. They would watch from a distance, and this might be the time to meet Santana’s parents.

Charlie nods, everything was perfect. Quinn was at Rachel’s house, Brittany and Mike weren’t planning to visit till tomorrow, her parents would probably go about their business which meant she had the whole place with just Santana. Sure they were watching some movie, but according to the movies, most people didn’t actually _watch_ movies when they were together. Now all she needed to do was put on some pants and—

The sound of the doorbell going off caused Charlie to turn towards the entrance to the house. It was only after ten, it seemed a bit early—she notices her mother going to the door and moves quickly to beat her mother there. She wasn’t going to allow her mother to embarrass her.

She pulls the door open, only then realizing that she’s still in just her boxers when Santana looks away in embarrassment. “Hey, you found it okay.” She grins. She really has picked the perfect omega. She just has to make Santana see it.

“Yeah.” Santana says trying not to look at down at the black boxers that Charlie was wearing, there was a weird flip flopping of emotions going. “Um, are you going to put on some pants? My parents are in the car,” she mutters.

“Oh, I should go introduce myself—” Charlie says waving at the black car. She makes a move to step outside the house when Santana places a hand on her chest causing her to pause ever so slightly.

“You need to put on some pants—you can’t meet my parents like this. They’ll think something is going on. I’m just here to watch the original trilogy with you.”

Charlie glances down at herself for a moment, Santana had a point and turns just as her mom tosses her a pair of gym shorts. She pull them on in front of Santana. “Now can I meet your parents?”

“Are you going to introduce yourself as my mate again?” Santana asks dryly.

“Yes?” Charlie asks slightly confused as to why Santana was asking her this. “You can introduce yourself to my parents as my mate—”

“Like I need _another_ set of parents to deal with.” Santana rolled her eyes. “No. You will go and say that you are my _friend_ and that we are just watching movies.”

Charlie grumbled at this, but walked over to Santana’s car barefoot, knowing that her future mate was watching her. Her mate was _bossy_ , and she wasn’t quite sure if she liked that. The window to the Lopez car slid open and Charlie slapped a smile onto her face. “Good morning Mrs. and Mr. Lopez, I’m Charlie Fabray Santana’s ‘friend.’ It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She extended her hand and shook Carlos’s hand and then Maribel’s.

“I’m Carlos, Santana’s Papi and this is Maribel.” Santana’s Dad introduced themselves quickly. “Thanks for the save the other day, I was sure Santana was going to find out.” He admitted.

Charlie shrugged. “It’s fine, Sir. My dad did the same thing when my older sister went on her first date with her mate. He made us come along, which was probably why he got discovered pretty quickly. She was angry for weeks that he had embarrassed her.”

Maribel smirked, unaware if this young alpha knew what she had just insinuated. “In any case, Carlos and I are both grateful you could keep that to yourself. I’m afraid our Santana’s got a little bit of a temper.”

Charlie rubbed the back of her neck. “Yeah, I noticed. I promise, I’ll take good care of your daughter.” She felt like she was tripping over her own tongue to try and get the words out. “I respect her.” She added lamely, almost as an afterthought.

Maribel watched her closely, her smirk broadening. “Thank you. I think she likes you, she’s talked about this non-stop for the last few days—”

“Alright, that’s enough weird Saturday morning bonding.” Santana interrupted. It was mortifying that her parents still thought they needed to introduce themselves to all of her friends. She was an omega, not a child. “We should probably go, we’ve got over six hours of Star Wars to watch.”

“Wait—what?” Charlie asked surprised. She had thought three hours, four tops. She quickly remembers her manners and looks at Santana’s parents. “My parents really do want to meet you, so whenever you have time, you can always stop by for a quick chat.” She feels Santana tugging on her arm and she sighs shaking her head to follow her mate. “Goodbye Mr. and Mrs. Lopez.” She waves at them as she gets pulled up the steps back to her house. “I guess we’ll be done in seven hours or so.”

She turns to see her father grinning at them broadly. “So Star Wars, huh?”

Charlie groans. This is her worst nightmare. “Santana, this is my dad. Dad, you were just leaving, right?”

“Nope. I’ll be around all day.” He grinned. The last thing he needed was to leave an unclaimed omega in the same house with his alpha daughter. Especially when his daughter thought they were destined to be together. Maybe they were, but he’d rather be safe. “Your mom will too.”

“Um, good morning Mr. Fabray, Santana said extending her own hand and watching as the alpha squirmed a bit. Are you a fan?”

“Yes actually I am, I tried to get my daughters into it but they didn’t seem to care much for it other than think that light sabers were cool so I bought one for each of them. Only to have them just start trying to beat each other over the head with it. Perhaps I’ll join you.”

Charlie immediately moved and grabbed her father by the arm. That hadn’t been the plan and she would be damned if he ruined things for her or worse embarrassed her before they had mated. “Can I talk to you dad?” She didn’t wait for an answer and pulled him further away from Santana. “What do you think you’re doing old man?” she demands. “Go do boring adult stuff.” Charlie growls at him and glances back at Santana who was watching the whole thing highly amused. “I will cut you old man.”

Russell rolled his eyes, he’d like to see his daughter try. “She’s an unclaimed omega in my house, I’m going to trust you to behave. We haven’t even met her parents yet.” He gives her a look before pulling away and smiling at Santana. “I would love to join you but this one would have a coronary. Have you met my wife Judy?”

“Not yet.” Santana admitted, smirking. It was nice to know that she wasn’t the only one whose parents excelled at making her life miserable.

“Judy, come meet _Santana_.” Russell insisted, calling down the hallway.

Charlie threw back her head in defeat. Her parents insisted on destroying any chance she had for happiness. “Santana this is my mother,” Charlie introduced and eyed her mother carefully. She always had an embarrassing story up her sleeve. This time she had with Santana was _special_ , they weren’t mates yet.

Judy smiled and instead of shaking Santana’s hand pulled her in for a hug, “Thank you,” she said quite pleased. “I’ve finally gotten my daughter back, she actually _talks_ to me now. I do apologize for any rudeness on Charlie’s behalf she means well but—”

“Thank you mom!” Charlie tugged Santana free. “Let’s go to the den and start. Six hours? Your parents will be back in about seven hours it’s best to start now. You’ll bring snacks mom?” Charlie asked pulling Santana with her.

Santana smirked, “Bye Mrs. Fabray—”

“Call me Judy,” Judy said immediately.

“Mr. Fabray.”

“Russell.”

Santana waved and allowed herself to be pulled away by Charlie, “Your parents seem nice. Though I think you should have allowed your father to join us, the more the merrier. I could have loved to hear his thoughts on Sith versus Jedi.”

“No. You wouldn’t.” Charlie shook her head. “What’s to decide? Good guys, bad guys, it’s all different sides of the same coin.” Santana stops abruptly and Charlie has to turn back to her. “What? What’d I say?”

“It’s not just an aspect of good versus bad.” Santana corrects. “It’s fundamental to the very understanding of this universe. The Force isn’t just light and dark, it’s an entire spectrum and the main difference between Jedis and Siths isn’t in the Force they use, but how it is utilized. Jedi’s insist that the only way to truly master the force is to have complete control over emotions.”

“Well that seems like a bore.” Charlie shrugged. Apparently, it was the right response because Santana follows her to the den.

“It is. And more so, it’s the kind of patriarchal rhetoric that undervalues emotions and the power they convey—” Santana trails off and blushes, realizing that she’s probably geeked out far too much, but after a minute continues. She’s already this far, she might as well nail the point home, “—for example things like hate, fear, anger, Jedi’s have to master it to the point where they don’t feel those emotions. The _problem_ comes from the fact that emotions _aren’t_ inherently good or bad, they just are. It’s not _bad_ to be angry. Sith’s utilize that anger to fuel something productive.”

“Didn’t one of the Sith guys kill people? They are the bad guys, right?” Charlie flopped down on the couch and felt a surge of excitement when Santana sat down beside her.

“Semantics.” Santana waved that point away. “But we’ll start with A New Hope and you’ll see.”

“A New Hope? I thought we were watching Star Wars?” Charlie furrowed her brow.

Santana shook her head. The force was not strong with this one, but with her help maybe Charlie was salvageable.

~O~

She’s not sure how they ended up snuggling on the couch, but after the first two hours of their movie marathon, she decided she didn’t care. Charlie’s scent was almost intoxicatingly comforting and the couch is super soft and Charlie is a _damn_ good pillow. She reaches over and grips Charlie’s knee as the pivotal scene comes to a close.

 _‘He told me you killed my father.’_ Luke cries on screen.

She loves this part, the reveal and even though she’s forced herself not to watch Charlie watch the movie, she can’t help but glance up at the blonde to see her reaction as Darth Vader replies. _‘No. I am your father.’_

She expects Charlie to react with shocked horror, her own emotions tied to Luke’s disgust. Instead, she finds Charlie fast asleep, her tongue hanging out of the side of her mouth and a small puddle of drool forming on the couch cushion underneath her head.

It’s disgusting and disturbing. How could _anyone_ sleep through _The Empire Strikes Back_? It’s one of the best movies of this generation. Normally, Santana would rip the pillow from underneath Charlie’s head and beat her with it, alerting her to the terrible crime of sleeping through _this_ movie.

But something stops her. She can’t explain it, and she’s glad that no one is around because now she doesn’t have to. She waits for the final scenes of this epic with Charlie’s rhythmic breathing as the only other sound in the room. She sighs when the ending credits finish before carefully extracting herself from Charlie’s embrace. She steps up to the DVD player and puts the next movie in, settling back in against Charlie’s strong frame.

She’s not going to waste a good movie marathon, she rationalizes to herself. It has nothing to do with the alpha beside her. Almost immediately Charlie’s arms wrap around her to hold her again and she can’t help but smile a bit, grabbing the remote. There would be plenty of time to get Charlie to watch the rest of the original trilogy. It was a lot to take in at once. She rubs Charlie’s bare knee again and starts The Return of the Jedi.

It’s only five minutes in when she smells fresh popcorn being brought in and looks up to see Judy who doesn’t quite seem to notice that she’s awake as she places a new bowl of popcorn out. She immediately hears her daughter's soft snores and is about to take a picture of the scene to show Santana’s parents when she notices that Santana is watching her. “Oh—hello,” she flushes putting her phone away.

Santana moves trying to extricate herself from Charlie’s grip but it just tightens around her. “Um, hello Mrs. Fabray—”

“Judy,” Judy corrects with a wave of her hand and eyes her daughter carefully. She smiles ever so slightly as she looks at her youngest, “You know, she thinks that you’re amazing. When she does decide to talk about you to her dear old mother, it’s always about how smart you are and how strong you are—is it true that you took out Finn?”

Santana blushes a bit and glances down at Charlie who seems completely out of it and pauses the movie. “Um, the big lumbering idiot? Yeah he got a bit handsy with me on my first day of school.” Santana admits. “So I took care of it. I mean yeah I guess Charlie sort of made it clear that he wasn’t allowed to so much as breathe in my general direction but I don’t think he was going to start coming after me anyway.”

“She is my daughter, and I like to think I raised her well,” Judy said in a proud tone. “You know, up until she met you she wasn’t interested in mating with _anyone_. Now it’s become you all the time, and I know that she’s gotten a little ahead of herself when it comes to you. So all I’m asking for is you just be patient with her, she’s been a bit of a lone wolf ever since Quinn mated with Rachel.” She watches as Charlie stirs a bit and wipes the drool from her face. “I’ll let you get back to your movie. But a tip, if you ever need her awake, she has a very unhealthy love of all things bacon.” Judy said with a small wink.

Santana shifted a bit and glanced down at Charlie and for a moment, it made her a bit uncomfortable to know that Charlie really was serious about the mating thing and it wasn’t just because she was in heat. Sure she mentioned Charlie—her parents asked about her and she may have gotten off on weird tangents about her but still that didn’t meant she wanted to mate with her. She couldn’t even stay awake through Star Wars. She shakes her head deciding not to think about it and plays the DVD again still rubbing Charlie’s knee absentmindedly.

As Leia sits chained in front of Jabba the Hutt with C3PO translating Luke and Han’s sentence, Charlie jerks awake suddenly.

Santana smirks. “You have a little drool there.”

“No I don’t.” Carlie immediately denied, wiping the back of her mouth with her hand and blushing when it indeed comes back with a fair amount of spit. Gross. She blinks quickly to try and focus on whatever was happening onscreen. The last she remembered there were like armies and it was space and something was happening. “I wasn’t asleep.”

Santana scoffs knowingly. “Uh huh. Sure you weren’t.”

“Wait—what the fuck are we watching? Did you start some weird alien porn?” She rubs her eyes, there’s a woman in a gold bikini outfit with a giant slug thing holding her on a leash.

Santana groans inwardly, “Well you would know if you didn’t fall asleep,” she says with a shake of her head.

Charlie doesn’t even bother to deny it, “She’s not going to get freaky with the giant slug is she?” She presses looking a bit horrified. “I thought this was rated PG-13!”

“It is.”

“He has her in a skimpy outfit and she’s on a leash—the implication alone,” Charlie argues.  

“I know but we’re not going to see anything,” Santana admitted suddenly realizing that Charlie had a bit of a point. You didn’t keep a woman as a slave and dress her like that just to have her serve you drinks. “Just keep watching, I promise you won’t see some alien porn.”

“Let me clarify. I’m not opposed to alien porn. It’s just, he’s a _slug_. I’m anti-slug porn.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Now watch the movie and quit talking.”

Charlie closes her mouth and reaches for some fresh popcorn and pulls Santana closer smiling when she doesn’t complain and instead snuggles in closer. This was a good day, even if she was probably going to see some slug porn.

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

Santana glanced down at her phone, noting the sixth text message that Charlie had sent her.  No doubt it was another text from Charlie who was making sure that she was okay. She had informed the alpha that she was going to the doctor’s office, she hadn’t informed Charlie why but after she had assured Charlie that she _wasn’t_ going to die, the alpha had turned flirty—or what she assumed was flirty. She wasn’t very good at it, and that’s when she had promptly ignored her.

“So Santana Lopez is it?”

Santana glanced from where she was sitting, mortified at the fact that she was in one of those infernal hospital gowns. It was freezing in the doctor’s office and her mother was sitting in the chair beside the examination bed. She can’t help but nod and puts her phone down. “Right.”

“What seems to be the problem?” Dr. Chin asked moving closer to her. She could smell the pheromones in the air and it wasn’t hard to figure out that the teenager was in heat.

“I’m in heat.” Santana says flatly crossing her arms over her chest.

Dr.  Chin blinks and looks at the chart. She was eighteen, she would have started going into heat at the beginning of puberty. “Have you not been having it lately?”

Maribel sighed, “What my daughter means is that she’s in heat _again_ despite the fact that she finished it not up to three weeks ago. She was on an eight week cycle which was normal.”

“Yes, typical heat cycles are between eight and twelve weeks.” Dr. Chin frowns thoughtfully.  “So your last heat cycle was around a month ago?” She clarified, noting the chart when Santana nodded. “Have you been around any new alphas lately?”

“What would that matter?” Santana snaps. She’s annoyed and on edge. Normally she has enough of a lag between heats that she can handle the next one, but she’s uncomfortable and sensitive.

Maribel shoots her a look, but ads for the doctor, “We just moved here, so she’s been around a lot of new alphas.”

Dr. Chin nods. It’s not uncommon for heat cycles to speed up, especially if this girl has been around her mate. But she’s not going to reveal her suspicions until after she’s had a chance to do a full exam. It’s not uncommon for omegas to have abnormal heat cycles, but she needs to rule out the idea that something worse could be going on. “Well, it could be a number of things apart, a medical condition or it could be due to the new stimulus. Have you been spending time around unclaimed alphas?”

Santana twitched, and Maribel sighed and looked at the doctor. “She has been spending time around one particular alpha—”

“We’re just friends.” Santana insists immediately.

“Right,” Maribel said dryly. “She has been spending time around one alpha who has been looking out for her could that have something to do with it?”

“Absolutely.” Dr. Chin nodded, sitting down on the stool. “Especially if this unclaimed alpha is her mate.”

“She’s not.” Santana assures quickly. “We’re _just friends_.” She repeats.

Dr. Chin smiles indulgently. “Sure. But if she’s the only alpha you’re spending time with, then it is most likely that she’s your mate. The more time you spend with her, the more the hormones in your body will try and get your body for reproductive and the mate bond that you two form.”

“I don’t want to _mate_ with her and I don’t want to reproduce with her,” Santana said horrified at the idea.

“Well, I can’t really help you with the mating thing. Though you do know that if you truly don’t want to mate with her you can always reject the bond. However, I _can_ help you with the reproduction thing and controlling your current increase in hormone production.” Dr. Chin glances at Maribel, “At this age, she should probably be on some form of birth control. I can go over the options with you right now.”

Maribel nods, watching her daughter as Dr. Chin pulls out a pamphlet from the holder on the wall and hands it to Santana. “Most of the different forms of birth control will also help regulate your different levels of hormone production and prevent you from getting pregnant once you _do_ start to be intimate with your mate. There are daily pills you can take, a weekly patch you can wear, or an implant we can insert that will all do the same function.” Dr. Chin explains.

“What do you recommend?” Maribel speaks up, ignoring the fact that her daughter is fidgeting uncomfortably. She’s old enough that she should _want_ a mate, and Charlie Fabray seems like a perfectly good alpha. But she’s well aware that Santana is stubborn and she probably should have known that Santana’s stubborn pride would create a health issue.

“It’s absolutely a personal preference. Most teenagers and young adults struggle to remember to take a daily pill, especially if they aren’t used to that particular routine. A lot of my patients who lead active lifestyles don’t really like the patch, so I would probably say that the majority of my omega patients opt for the implant.”

“Which one acts the quickest?” Santana asks causing her mother to turn to her and raise a brow. “What? If this is Charlie’s fault she’s going to _fix it_. She probably planned it. Though I might be putting far too much stock in her intelligence.” Santana muses.

“The implant would start working immediately however, I would suggest waiting a couple of days just to make sure that it’s comfortable and to give it some time to work.”  Dr. Chin offers. “Truthfully, I would also suggest that you ask this Charlie person to wear a condom just to be on the safe side. You don’t have to of course but you can’t be too careful with these things.”

Santana flipped through the pamphlet, “I think I’m going to go with the implant.” She glances at her mother who nods and she turns back to Dr. Chin. “Yeah definitely going for the implant.”

~O~

Charlie fought the urge to pace in front of Santana’s locker. Even though they had been texting, it had been three days since she last saw her future mate. She wasn’t sure if she could handle it anymore. If Santana didn’t show up today, she was marching over there, regardless of what her parents said. Santana didn’t need _space_ , she needed Charlie. She growls and nearly punches her locker, her mate was sick and she wasn’t there to comfort her in her time of— Charlie inhaled deeply. That _scent_. It confused her, it couldn’t possibly be—

She turns and a huge grin crosses her face when she sees Santana marching up towards her. “Santana—” as Santana approaches she gets hit with a huge wave of pheromones and her eyes dilate in arousal. “You’re in heat again—why?” Her voice had gotten huskier and it took all her will to simply not jump Santana and take her right there in the hall. While the teachers really didn’t care when they were having sex they didn’t like having it waved in their faces.

Santana folded her arms over her chest. “I’m in heat again because of you, dumbass. Now move away from my locker.” She was annoyed and still uncomfortable as hell and damn it, Charlie’s scent was driving her crazy. She had missed the next two days of school just to make sure that she wouldn’t change her mind.

Charlie tilts her head to look at Santana carefully studying her. From the flushed skin, to the dilated pupils, increased heart rate—and the scent. The sweet glorious scent of her mate’s arousal. “Because of me?” Charlie asks, repeating what Santana had just said. She steps away from Santana’s locker to let her put her things away and reaches to touch Santana’s arm watching as Santana jerked away from her. “Is that why you didn’t come to school for the past three days? Because you were worried about what your scent might do to me?” Charlie presses and then shakes her head. “No, that’s not quite right. I think it’s the opposite, you stayed away for so long because you were afraid that you wouldn’t be able to resist me.”

Santana slammed her locker shut, annoyed that Charlie may have had a point but she wasn’t going to simply admit it. “This whole mess is _your_ fault and you’re not suggesting how to _help_ me fix it,” Santana snaps at Charlie. She pinches the bridge of her nose, it’s throbbing now and she grits her teeth. She wasn’t going to be able to concentrate at all today. “Three questions. Question one: can you have sex with someone without mating with them? Question two: Do you have a condom on you? Question three: where is the most private place in this damn school?”

Charlie stares and she can feel the crotch of her pants tightening up. “Uh, I don’t know. No, and the most private place would be out of the school. Trust me there are no _private_ places in this school. Not really. “

Santana ground her teeth furiously. “Fine. Get the hell out of my way.” She pushes past Charlie getting a good whiff of her scent that leaves her weak in the knees, but she _needs_ to make a point and she’d be damned if Charlie—the throbbing between her thighs is back and she clenches her fists, she wants to scream. It’s not fair. She doesn’t _want_ to mate. _Fuck it_. She turns around and stares at Charlie. “Fine that’ll just have to do. I’m going to trust that you’re not on the premature side. But I suppose that’s why I chose to get the stupid implant to begin with. Come on, you’re taking me somewhere comfortable and _private_.” Santana says grabbing onto Charlie’s arm, ignoring the slightly confused look on Charlie’s face.

“You know for an omega, you sure are _bossy_ ,” Charlie says after a moment. Her constant back and forth was giving her a bit of whiplash.

“For an alpha you sure are _obedient_ ,” Santana snaps back. “Now do you want to have sex or are you all talk?” Santana tugs on Charlie’s arm only to find that she’s stopped moving. There’s a frown on her face and Santana groans. “Don’t tell me that hurt your little alpha feelings—” She’s suddenly picked up and put over Charlie’s shoulder and she can’t help but smirk pleased with Charlie taking charge.


	9. Chapter 9

Charlie slipped the keycard into the door, fumbling a bit as she grabbed the handle and pushed Santana into the room. The action caused them to finally part for a minute, and she took that moment to kick the door closed, not taking her eyes off Santana. She didn’t even have to order Santana to strip, her future mate doing that immediately and on her own accord. It pleased her that her mate was _desperate_ for her and she couldn’t help but note that Santana had prepared for this if the red lacey bra she was sporting was any indication. Santana had put a lot of time into this even if she would later deny it, but she had chosen that bra to entice her. She hadn’t needed too, her smell alone would have done the trick, and even if it hadn’t Santana was _stunning_.

Santana let out a frustrated whine as she worked on her pants. She needed to get them off, the throbbing between her legs was nearly unbearable. It was Charlie’s fault of course, and she knew that Charlie had done this on purpose. The alpha had made her sit in her wetness, stewing in her desire after their failed attempt to do it in the back of Quinn’s jeep. Things were quickly escalating when Charlie had stopped the action and demanded—no that wasn’t quite right, she had announced that they were going to change venues. Apparently doing it in her sister’s car was not a major turn on for her. Mentally she couldn’t blame her, but the aching needy throbbing between her thighs certainly did. She had never been so wet, drenched in fact, let alone so needy. The whole thing screamed of a power maneuver, but thing was _she didn’t_ really care. “Will you _get on with it_ already? I’m beginning to think that you’re all talk!” She can’t help but get out.

She can’t help the smirk that seems to have made a permanent home on her face, Santana was _desperate_ for her. She had made the right call in retaking the upper hand. What type of alpha would she be if she let their first time be in the back of some musty old car where Quinn had mated with Rachel a _million_ times before. No, even now in their frenzied rush, she would make sure that this would be memorable, that Santana felt cherished and loved. Her eyes danced with amusement as she slowly pulled her own clothes off, until she was just standing there in boxers. She didn’t care that there was a massive tent in her black boxer-briefs.

She takes a step forward, hesitating only long enough to give Santana a moment to agree that this was what she really wanted. When she sees the nod she enters Santana’s personal space and kisses her deeply wrapping an arm around her waist pulling her closer letting Santana’s scent wash all over her. She breaks the kiss after a moment, her eyes dark with lust as she pushes Santana onto the bed. Her father had undersold it, Santana was intoxicating. “ _Fuck_.”.

Santana feels her back hit the mattress and she quickly hooks her thumbs in between the material of her ruined thong and shimmies out of it. There’s a part of her that _wants_ to, needs Charlie to claim her right now and be done with it, but she wasn’t going to allow that to happen. Charlie’s on the bed beside her and the alpha’s scent is almost overwhelming, “You promised—no mating,” she’s panting now, and she lets out an embarrassing mewl when Charlie’s fingers drag along her folds. Her body bucks, it’s like lightning and no matter how many times she masturbated while she was in heat, it had _never_ felt like that.

“Yeah,” Charlie replied, it didn’t sound particularly convincing to her but she didn’t care as she brings her drenched fingers to her lips and tastes it. She lets out a groan, the smell the taste—she was right, Santana was her mate. It would take all her willpower, to simply _not_ mount her and try and push the mate bond on her. She moves quickly pinning Santana to the bed easily and begins to grind against Santana’s opening, her boxer getting wet and she groans.

The teasing was _maddening,_ all she wanted right now was for Charlie to flip her over and fuck her, hard, fast. She didn’t care if this was her first time, she wanted it to be _rough_. She craved the desperation. “What the _hell_ are you waiting for? A fucking invitation? _Fuck me_!” She snaps, the desperation getting to her, and she watches as Charlie’s hazel eyes meet hers for a moment and she almost hates how pleased and amused the alpha looks.

Charlie pulls back her eyes still locked on Santana, and pulls off her boxers freeing her nine inch dick, a proud smile on her face when Santana’s eyes widen a bit. She was an alpha, they were _always_ a bit on the big side and she was happy with what was between her legs as she drags it against Santana’s wet pussy, slicking it up slowly. “I’m not sure if you’re ready for me—” she begins, it takes all her effort to simply not just slide her dick into Santana in one go.

“You’re an _asshole_ , will you just get to work and—” A moan erupts from Santana’s lips as Charlie begins to tease her clit with her dick and she bites her lip hard, trying to control the embarrassing noises that are coming from her mouth. She couldn’t be the one making those noises. She just couldn’t be. And maybe it’s Charlie’s scent, or the maddening teasing that she’s doing with that dick of hers but Santana can’t help the small orgasm that happens, more wetness gushing out of her already wet pussy. “Oh _fuck_ — _fuck_.” So this was what it was like being with your mate.

Charlie groans, her mate is so receptive to her touch and she can’t wait any longer, as she pushes the tip of her dick into Santana. “Tight,” she grunts. It feels amazing. “So fucking tight,” Charlie groans slowly pushing more of herself into Santana. She begins to rock her hips back and forth, pushing more and more of herself into Santana with every thrust taking her time enjoying the sensations of Santana’s pussy gripping onto her dick, resisting every time she attempts to pull back. Charlie eyes Santana carefully, she wasn’t a fan of this position normally, but she needed to make sure that her mate was okay, and this position helped her avoid acting on her burning desire to bite Santana, marking her—claiming her as her mate.  Finally her hips collide into Santana’s and she realizes she’s all the way in. She shivers and tears her eyes away from Santana’s for a moment and looks at the ceiling. She needed to get control of herself, she wasn’t going to mate with her mate today. She counts to ten in her head before her hands move down to Santana’s outer thighs resting there.

She’s never felt so full, or so good, the way that Charlie fills her. Every single thrust into her had lit up her nerve endings, causing a cascade of pleasure. She begins to moan lowly, as Charlie suddenly starts to _fuck_ her. At first the thrusts are gentle and it leaves her aching for more, but quickly they begin to pick up speed and force, slamming into her causing her voice to pick up several decibels as her moans become louder. “Oh _fuck_ —goddamnit, this is your fault— _fuck, fuck, fuck_ —please fuck me harder! I fucking need it—it’s your damn fault so _fix it_ —”

Charlie growls and shifts her body as she pulls out and pushes herself back in hard, causing Santana to scream in pleasure as she feels her pussy clamping down on her dick as she cums _hard_. Her pussy _spasming_ as it gushed out more liquid squirting over her lower abdomen, the scent was driving her wild and she opened her mouth to lean forward and claim her mate. Stopping herself by slamming her hand onto her mouth. Santana was going to be the death of her she could already tell and she was perfectly okay with that.

“Fuck— _harder_ , yes like that—keep fucking me, pound it. _Yes_ , oh fuck _yes_.” She’s babbling now, she doesn’t care Charlie’s still working her hips and she barely recognizes the strain she’s putting Charlie who had a firm hand on her mouth and was letting out muffled grunts of pleasure. Her body is wracked with another orgasm, and another one hits and soon she’s lost track of how many she’s had. It’s almost impossible to tell where one ends and another begins. No wonder people who were mated had sex _all the_ time. This felt amazing, the pleasure was extending from her core and it soon felt like every last nerve ending in her body was an erogenous zone. Her body _wanted_ —no _needed_ her to mate. She was about to ask when Charlie’s thrusts which had fallen into a steady rhythm turned erratic. She was going to cum.  

Santana opens her eyes and they lock onto Charlie’s hazel ones, Charlie’s hand was still firmly placed on her mouth and she can’t help but give a little nod. Almost immediately Charlie slams into her completely setting off another orgasm as she grunts a few times. She can feel herself being filled up by Charlie, and she bucks harder against her as Charlie’s free hand grips her hip locking her in place as she continues her own orgasm. Emptying herself inside of her. It feels so _fucking_ good she can’t stand it.

Charlie finally drops her hand, the urge to mate with Santana was still burning at the back of her mind but she could control it now. Her dick was still rock hard and she eyes her mate who is gasping for air, trying to come down from her orgasmic high. She didn’t care that Santana had drenched the sheets and most of her lower torso had Santana’s wetness running down her body coating her with that intoxicating scent. “Don’t even think about getting comfortable Santana, We’re not close to being finished.” Charlie growls at her. She’s never been like this before and she’s going to make sure that Santana _knew_ even if they didn’t mate that she belonged to her.

~O~

Charlie leaned back against the pillow, taking relief in her post-coital bliss. This was perfect. She could see herself spending the rest of her life in this blissful haze. Her mate was curled up beside her, breathing deeply and rhythmically in a soothing lullaby. She glanced over at the clock on the table, smirking as the numbers changed. They had missed the entire day of school. A full day. Well, they still had an hour to get back to campus before the end of school, but _most_ of the day was pretty close. “Santana?” She poked her mate gently on the side.

Santana grumbled but swatted Charlie’s hand away. “No.” She murmured, not opening her eyes.

“Come on, we have to get back to school.” Charlie chided with a smile.

Santana shot up. School? How long had they been gone, she probably only missed a class or two. She groaned when she saw the time. They had already started the last period of the day. What the hell had she been thinking? “Fuck.”

Charlie protested when Santana moved to get away. “Hey, no. I liked the cuddling thing.”

“Too bad. Charlie, we’ve missed the _whole_ day.” Santana frowned. “I’ve still got to shower and then we have to leave before my parents come to pick me up and have a heart attack that I’m not there.”

“Why?”

“Why what? Would they be upset? Probably because I skipped class for a full day after I’ve already missed three days in a row.”

“No, why do you need to shower?” Charlie enquired. She _liked_ the way Santana smelled, especially when Santana carried the scent of Charlie with her. There would be no doubt, even for some idiot like Finn, that Santana was _hers_ even without marking her.

Santana pulled a face. “It’s disgusting, and the _last_ thing I need is for my parents to know we slept together.”

“Why? Do they not like me?” Charlie frowned at the thought. She thought she had made a good impression with the Lopez’s, maybe she needed to try harder to show them she could be a good alpha for their daughter.

Santana rolled her eyes. “They like you fine, but forgive me if I don’t want to deal with my parents squealing over a mating ceremony or giving me more talks about birth control and starting our own family. So I’m going to shower.”

Charlie grumbles a bit but a slow smile crosses her face. “I’ll join you,” she says only to have Santana turn to her and frown. “What? We’re saving water and—”

“No. You can wait your turn. If you try and shower with me—” Santana throws a pillow at Charlie who flashes her a wicked smirk. “No, you’re going to wait your turn and get our clothes ready so we can just get out of here once you finished.”

Charlie frowns and flops back on the bed, “I’m not showering. I _like_ smelling like you,” Charlie says with a shrug. “That way all the other omegas leave me alone cause they know I’m yours.” Charlie said.

Santana pauses for a moment her heart leaping at the thought but she shrugs her shoulders, “Fine, whatever just—we need to be back before school ends.”

Charlie nods, and shifts a bit tilting her head so she can watch her mate scamper off to the bathroom naked and wishing that she could join her. But they had _plenty_ of time to do that later. She glances down at her hardening member and waits until she hears the spray of the showers before reaching down to touch herself. She was sure Santana mind.

~O~

Carlos could barely contain his grin the entire drive home. He didn’t want to alert his daughter that she was naive if she thought a quick shower could hide the scent of her alpha. A simple shower couldn’t wash that away. But he was guessing they still hadn’t mated, Santana still reeked of omega hormones like most unclaimed omegas did.

“Papi? Are you okay?” Santana watched him, shifting nervously as he pulls into their driveway. He’s been giving her creepy knowing looks the whole way home. He can’t possibly know, she’s been really careful.

“Oh, I’m fine.” He assured. “How are _you_?” He pressed, suppressing a smirk when she squirmed uncomfortably.

“Me? I’m fine.” She assures him in return. “But I’ve got a ton of homework.” She pops the door open to try and escape to her bedroom when her father places a hand on her arm.  Santana turns to him giving him a quizzical look.

“If you ever want to talk about being an omega—”

“I don’t—thanks dad,” Santana said bolting out the door and closing it quickly. She was almost certain that her father knew, but she had showered and she couldn’t smell anything but cheap hotel soap. She shakes her head and glances at her father once more before taking off to her room. She was definitely going to have a nice hot soak in the tub and change her clothes.

He barely manages to wait for the door to close before dialing his wife.

“Carlos?” She answers on the first ring. He doesn’t call her often when either of them are at work, but she never ignores his call.

“It happened, Maribel!” He can feel himself squealing but Santana’s not around to make fun of him. “She did it.”

“She did what?” Maribel’s eyes widened. “You mean she _mated_?”

“No, no. Not that.” He frowned. He wished he could tell Maribel that it happened, he knew she’d come straight home. “She _smells_ like her alpha. She tried to hide it—badly I might add, but it’s all over her clothes and it’s just—everywhere. It must have taken all of Charlie’s willpower not to mate with Santana. She’s in _heat_ , it was their first time being intimate—it was the perfect storm.”

Maribel crinkled her nose, “Sure that’s one way to look at it,” at this rate her daughter was never going to get mated. “I can’t believe that they missed school for _that_ , I mean if they were mates I’d understand, but they’re not.” She pauses for a moment, “Are we sure that Charlie is completely there—you don’t throw away good opportunities like that. Are we _sure_ they’re mates?”

“There’s no way those two aren’t mates.” He counters. “I know you’ve only seen them together for about five minutes, but I’m telling you: they are mates.”

“Are you sure?” She pressed.

“Yes. Trust me on this.”

She fell silent for a minute. “Well in that case, how would you like to win the award for worst parents of the year?”

“I love your twisted mind.” He grinned. “What do you want to do?”

“Do you remember what your parents did to _us_ when we first met?”

Carlos chuckled at this, he could remember it well. “I thought we promised that we weren’t going to be like them and that we’d be the cool _hip_ parents.” He can practically feel Maribel’s smirk from where he was sitting.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Maribel asks and smiles when he laughs.

“True,” Carlos shook his head. “Do you want to call the Fabray’s? Or should I?”

“I’ll call Russell,” Maribel promises, it seemed like he’d be more on board with this than Judy would.

“Fine, but when she finds out, this was all your idea.”


	10. Chapter 10

Santana had her earbuds in, playing idly on her computer. She _should_ be doing homework, but since she had skipped another day of classes, she had no idea what exactly she needed to do. She’d figure it out tomorrow, for now she was fairly content hiding up in her room. She’d also have to do something about Charlie, she would need to stay away from her until her heat passed. As fun as today had been—she couldn’t make it a habit. _Even_ if that habit had left her weak in the knees, and with a delicious ache in between her legs.

She sniffed, taking in the aroma coming from the kitchen, she was pretty sure that it was just her father cooking up a storm. He knew that something was off, but maybe if she avoided him and her mother for long enough he would simply forget. It was wishful thinking on her behalf, but as long as she stayed in her room, she could remain in denial.

“Santanita?” Her mother called up the stairs and Santana furrowed her brow. When had she come home? She hadn’t heard the garage, or anything that indicated that her mother had come home, and it was _early_. Her mother never really home early.

She groaned, but stood anyway. “Yes Mami?”

“Come down here now, please.”

Santana frowned. Despite the words her mom sounded like she was smiling which was an almost universal sign that she wasn’t going to like whatever was in store. She shakes her head, it was better to get it over with now. Then she could focus on doing something else—maybe wondering why the hell Charlie _hadn’t_ called. You didn’t just take someone’s virginity in a hotel and not call—sure it hadn’t had been cheap but _still_ it was the principal of the matter.  “I’m coming,” she says after a moment as she heads down the stairs.

“Pretty sure you said that earlier.”

Santana stops halfway down the stairs, her cheeks going a _deep_ red. There standing between her parents was Charlie Fabray who looked just as embarrassed as she felt. “ _Charlie_ ,” she hisses at the alpha who flashes her an uncomfortable smile. It takes her another step down to realize that _Charlie_ hadn’t managed to grab a shower. She was going to _murder_ her.

“Ah, Santana, it’s a pleasure to see you again.” Russell beamed.

Santana forced a smile onto her lips, “It’s good to see you again Mr. Fabray,” She tilted her head to Judy. “You too Mrs. Fabray.”

“Judy,” Judy corrected with a shake of her head. “It was kind of your mother to invite us for dinner, it smells absolutely delicious. I’d love to get the recipe.”

“Well I should go get washed up for dinner—Santana can you show me to a bathroom?” Charlie asked moving to stand by her mate only to have her father put a hand on her shoulder keeping her there.

“Charlie, we’re _guests_ in their house. So _no funny business_.” Russell said giving her a look.

Charlie nods and quickly wiggles out of his grasp and moves to her mate. “Right, I’m seriously just going to wash up. Quinn and Rachel _took_ _forever_.” She shoots Santana an apologetic look. She really had just gotten home and was about to head to bed when she was dragged back out.

“Well behave, we’ll just go join Carlos and Maribel in the kitchen.” Judy said giving her daughter a look.

Charlie grumbled muttering under her breath, why did they think it was her that had somehow managed to convince Santana to skip school so she could defile her? Sure she might have been the alpha but she wasn’t just going to tear off Santana’s clothes and mount her without her permission. “I’m sorry,” Charlie mumbles. “They sprung this on me before I could get to the shower.”

“I thought you were supposed to be clever or something. Couldn’t you have made them change their mind?” Santana grumbled pulling Charlie into her room.

Charlie’s eyes dilated immediately and she could feel her pants getting tight again. There was a bed right there, and Santana’s pheromones were incredibly concentrated right now. “You think I’m clever,” Charlie said with a smirk before she pulls Santana towards her.

“I do not.” Santana lied. “I just meant, don’t _you_ think you’re clever?” Santana pinches the bridge of her nose. She’s pretty sure this can’t get any more mortifying than it already is. The last thing she needs to do is start stroking Charlie’s ego.

“Charlie, what’s taking you two so long?” Russell called up the stairs a knowing smirk clouding his tone.

Charlie groaned, feeling her own arousal dissipate at realizing their parents were just downstairs. “Do you think they’ll leave us alone if we tell them that we’re mating?”

“We’re not _mating_.” Santana hissed, pushing Charlie toward the bathroom despite the almost painful throbbing that seemed to grow with every word her mate spoke. This was ridiculous. “I have body spray, use it _generously_.”

“Why?” Charlie groaned, this was torture, it was hell on earth for her, and she wanted to be with her mate. Respecting Santana’s boundaries when she could feel the pull was getting more and more difficult, they probably shouldn’t have had sex.

“ _Because—_ look just—” Santana grumbles, not wanting to tell Charlie the real reason.

“Santana,” Maribel sing-songed up the stairs. “Don’t make me come up there, I’ll bring a hose.”

Charlie crinkles her nose, “She’s not serious is she?”

“She’s _deadly_ serious. Use my body spray and then get your ass downstairs,” Santana and glances down at Charlie’s crotch. “ _Take care of that_.”

Charlie frowned and turned toward the bathroom. ‘Take care of that’, like it was some inconvenience. That surely a different tune than what she had been screaming hours before. They _really_ probably shouldn’t have had sex.

~O~

Santana picked at her food wondering how Charlie could eat when their parents were staring at them from across the table. She squirmed, and resisted the urge to pinch Charlie. It wasn’t fair. If she was this uncomfortable, Charlie should be too.

“Quinn’s not here, Charlotte, so no one is going to steal your food.” Russell chided, slightly embarrassed that his daughter would act this way in front of her mate’s parents.

Charlie swallowed, she wasn’t eating this fast because she wanted to. She wanted to make sure Santana was eating, but she was nervous and didn’t like being stared at by parents. “Right,” Charlie mumbles and glances at Santana looking for a bit of help, they were in her domain and she did want to make a good impression on Santana’s parents.

Maribel smirked at the nervous alpha, “So, Charlie. When are you going to mate with my daughter?” she said cutting exactly to the chase.

“ _Mami_!” Santana’s said her voice filled with horror and embarrassment.

“Santana,” Maribel said raising a brow. She had been talking to Charlie and she watched as the blonde alpha met her gaze evenly. It was impressive, she was still young, and she still did defer to her father for everything, but she could tell that Charlie would take very good care of her daughter.

Santana winced, Charlie _wanted_ to mate, she had wanted to mate the moment that they met but she had been the one to— “We’ve decided to wait until we knew each other a bit better,” Charlie answers.

Russell chuckled despite himself and all eyes moved to him, missing. “Good luck with that, pumpkin, but I’m pretty sure that’s not possible.”

“Russell.” Judy hissed, a knowing smile on her own lips. She and Russell hadn’t even tried to be apart their first year after mating, but it wasn’t their job to burst Charlie’s noble intentions. “I think what your father is saying is that waiting might be harder than both of you anticipate.”

Charlie bit her drawing a bit of blood, he had _no idea_ how difficult it was. “We’ve managed to go a few weeks, we’ll decide when the time is right. Right Santana?”

“So you’re finally admitting you’re _mates_?” Carlos pressed a small smile on his face.

Santana groans, she hadn’t wanted to admit that they were mates to begin with but it was becoming pretty obvious that they were something _more_ than friends. “I want to get to know her better,” she says lamely.

“Well the next time you have sex,” Maribel cut in dismissively, glancing over at Judy and Russell in an attempt to quell the worries she was sure they had, “You should maybe consider utilizing a condom as well. I know Santana’s has the implant, but—”

Santana closed her eyes, this was worse than mortifying. She was pretty sure she might die of embarrassment.

“Well that’s a good thing.” Russell cut in. “We Fabrays are unusually virile. Why, I got Judy pregnant with Charlie’s older sister when we—”

“Please stop.” Charlie begged. The last thing she needed to hear about was her parents’ sexual escapades. “I don’t want to know.”

“When we were _just children_.” Judy finished for him, looking pointedly at her daughter with soft amusement. “And none of us want that for either of you.”

“Which is why you need to be careful.” Carlos warned, picking up where Judy left off. “There is _no_ better feeling than finding your alpha, and once you begin to mate it’s almost magical. But both of you are far too young to be starting a family.” He chuckled a little when his daughter squirmed at the suggestion. When Maribel went into heat, he was always took time off work just so that he could be available. It was the best feeling in the world and he was delighted that his daughter had finally found her alpha.

“Trust me.” Santana spoke up, her cheeks flaming with mortified embarrassment. “We won’t be starting a family anytime soon.” It was the very reason she didn’t want a mate in the first place. She wanted to _do_ things with her life, important things, and the _last_ thing she wanted to do was to be barefoot and pregnant and waiting around for Charlie to come home for the day. While her father was successful in his own right, most omegas ended up sacrificing their entire career to stay home and let their alpha take care of the family. Judy was a prime example of what most people expected from mated omegas, and she wasn’t about to let that be her.

“You say that now.” Maribel chided, “But accidents happen and that is why we have all decided that we are going to have a very detailed and frank discussion about sex and mating.”

“You’ve got to be joking.” Santana frowned.

Carlos patted his daughter’s knee supportively. “I’m sorry, mija, but your Mami is right. We just want to make sure you’re safe.”

“Don’t they have, like, pamphlets or something?” Charlie cleared her throat, not needing to glance over to Santana to know she would agree”. “Like something that we can read and, you know, _not_ do this?”

“Right, Dr. Chin gave us a bunch of pamphlets, there’s no need to have an awkward conversation where you both share far too much information and scar us for the rest of our lives.” Santana spoke up agreeing with Charlie immediately.

“We could do that, but Carlos is a doctor and in all the books I’ve read they say it’s important to have this conversation with your children when it comes time to mate.” Judy countered. She glanced over to Carlos who nodded emphatically.

Russell smirked, putting his hand on his wife’s knee. They were torturing their youngest daughter, he was well aware of that. But not even Charlie could disagree with a mother’s attempt to do this right. “We know you’ll struggle, that you’ll want to mate all the time.” His eyes narrowed in on his own daughter. “But it’s _critical_ that you both graduate from high school. You’ll want to skip class, but that is simply unacceptable.”

“Unacceptable.” Charlie scoffs despite herself, thinking of all the times she’s seen Rachel and Quinn do just that. “Right.”

“It’s _your job_ as the alpha to make sure that you both graduate.” Russell adds. He knows Quinn is still caught up in the newness of it all, but she’s at least managed to attend her classes regularly. “Do you understand me?”

Charlie rolls her eyes, but nods. “Yes sir.”

Carlos watches his own daughter to make sure that she understands their expectations as well. Once she catches his eye and nods almost imperceptibly, he smiles. “Well, I think we’ve embarrassed these kids long enough.”

“Carlos?” Maribel turns to him, her eyes dancing with amused betrayal.

“Oh come on, Mari, they’re young and they won’t do it again. Right Charlie?”

“Right, Sir.” Charlie sits up just a little straighter in her seat.

Santana shook her head, and they wondered why she didn’t want to mate with Charlie. Sure, Charlie had stuck by her and supported her decision and seemed to be patient, even though it was obvious that she wanted to do it immediately, but she couldn’t give up her freedom to forever be known as Charlie’s omega. “It won’t happen again,” Or at all. The plan had been for them to miss the first two periods. She hadn’t thought that Charlie was some sort of—sex machine.

“Good, now the two of you can “hang-out” upstairs, if you want to. Maybe even mate if you want,” Maribel said looking directly at Santana. “You shouldn’t be sneaking off to hotels, you have a perfectly good bed upstairs.”


	11. Chapter 11

Santana glanced over at Charlie frowning slightly as the alpha moved towards her bed and hops onto it, patting the space beside her. “Charlie—” if her mate thought she was doing it anywhere near her parents just because they had given them permission she had another thing coming.

Charlie flashed Santana a smile, “Its _okay_. Your parents said that it was fine and I know my parents _really_ don’t care, what with Rachel and Quinn doing it all the time. I don’t even think they _left_ the room all summer once they mated.” Charlie crinkles her nose at the memory.

“That doesn’t mean that I feel comfortable doing it in my room with my parents hovering around to see if you’re going to _mate_ with me.” Santana snaps at her and when Charlie tilts her head she wraps her arms around herself. “If you want to do something well you have your hand. I’ve got homework to do.”

Charlie shifts on the bed so she is sitting up, “I wasn’t thinking about having sex,” Charlie admits and receives a pointed look from Santana. “Well, I mean, I _am_ , but I don’t think I’ll be able to refrain from trying to mate with you. It was hard enough earlier and even though it was fun—I’m not sure if I could do it again. I still have teeth marks on my hand and I drew blood.” Charlie holds up her hand and waves it at Santana. “But we can do other things.”

“Like?” Santana presses. “We’re not playing board games or something lame like that and I really do have to do _some_ homework, you kept me from school all day remember? Even though you promised it was only going to be a few hours?”

“I think we’re forgetting that _you_ were the one that was begging for _more_ ,” Charlie points out and meets Santana’s eyes when she narrows them at her. “You were, I didn’t _make_ you do anything that you didn’t want to do. I’ve been respecting your wishes—”

“Have you?” Santana challenges, finally getting a bit annoyed at the alpha in front of her. “You didn’t even know my name and you wanted to mate with me when we first met, you _expected_ me to just jump into your arms and just—just _mate_.”

“You were in heat!”

“So? You didn’t know my name!” Santana says crossing her arms over her chest.

Charlie frowned and ran a hand through her hair, “Look, I’m _sorry_. You were in heat, and it’s the first time that I’ve ever really wanted to have sex with someone. I mean yeah I’ve done it before but I’ve never felt the urge to _mate_ with them. I’ve certainly never felt what I felt when I first met you. You’re my _mate_. I know that, you know that. We’re _supposed_ to mate, we’re hardwired to do it.”

“Well I don’t _want_ a mate!” Santana snaps.

Charlie frowns, “Of course you want a mate! You’re an _omega_.” The words were out of her mouth and immediately Charlie regrets them, not just because she can hear her father smacking his forehead with the palm of his hand and her mother’s sigh of frustration.

“Right and you’re being kicked out of my room now. Get out.” Santana snaps at Charlie who doesn’t budge. Instead it looks like she’s about to make some sort of moronic stand. “I said _get out_.”

“No.” Charlie frowned, folding her arms over her chest obstinately.

Santana arched her brow. “No?”

“No. I’ve done everything I can to respect your feelings, but you can’t just kick me out without telling me what is wrong.” Charlie insisted. There was something else going on, she knew it. She just had to get Santana to tell her what was wrong, and then she could fix it.

Santana pushed Charlie hard against her shoulder, forcing her out of the room. “I _did_ tell you what’s wrong. I’m not _just_ a stupid omega that you can order around.”

“I never tried to order you around, I’m just saying that you’re—” Charlie was pushed back again and the door quickly slammed shut, cutting her off effectively. She let out a frustrated growl, she was tempted to be forceful. Santana was an _omega_. _Her_ omega. She didn’t just get to slam the door in her face and tell her to leave, but she wasn’t going to make a scene or force Santana to do anything.  So instead she turns around and gathers herself before walking downstairs. There was no need for Santana’s parents to see her throwing a fit. Even if she _really_ wanted to.

“Charlotte?” Russell presses raising a brow, he got up when Charlie blew past them and shook his head. “Teenagers,” he mutters. He turns to Maribel and Carlos, “Thank you for the wonderful meal, hopefully this entire mess will be sorted out soon.”

Maribel smiles even though she has a sneaking suspicion it’s not Charlie’s fault that this mess is complicated in the first place. “One can only hope.” She escorted the Fabrays out of their home, taking note that Charlie was already waiting by the car. She sighs when the car leaves her driveway, she’s going to absolutely murder her daughter if she did something to mess up her future with her alpha.

Carlos was waiting inside the front door a small smirk on his own face that suggested he had the same suspicions. “Do you want to talk to her or should I attempt to?”

She wanted to make him do it. After all, as an omega he might be able to relate with their daughter. But the bullheaded stubborn attitude was something she didn’t inherit from Carlos. “No, I’ll handle it.”

“I think she’s just—it’s just hard. I don’t think she was expecting this to happen so soon.”

“Soon?” She shook her head. “Carlos, she’s almost eighteen. Many omegas have already mated by now.”

“Yeah, but our Santanita is special.” He smirked when she rolled her eyes. “It’s a big adjustment and I think she was expecting to have a little longer to wait before finding her mate.”

Maribel is quiet thinking about what Carlos had said, “I know it’s an adjustment and I know she wanted to wait, but it’s a bit late for that now. She’s _found_ her alpha, and once they join it really is the best feeling in the world. Knowing that you’ve found your soulmate, that you’ll never be alone. The fact that the two of them had sex while Santana was in heat and they didn’t mate shows _remarkable_ control on her part.  You remember when I mated with you?” A grin appeared on Carlos’s face and she rolled her eyes. “I couldn’t help it, it just sort of happened. Except going in there with that attitude will only have Santana claiming that I’m taking Charlie’s side. I’m not, but as an alpha I _know_ how difficult it is, how confusing it is. One day you’re not interested in mating, and then the next minute—”

“We’re skipping class and having sex under the bleachers,” Carlos finishes for her and gets shoved playfully. “Well apart from the casual exhibitionism, they certainly do take after us.”

Maribel smirks, “Maybe we should lead with that.”

“If you want to scar our daughter for life, then go ahead.” He counters. “Let’s go talk to her together then, see what’s bothering her.” He takes her hand and tugs her upstairs, well aware that his alpha is not looking forward to this conversation. It doesn’t matter though, something was clearly the matter and they needed to get to the bottom of it. “Santana? Charlie’s gone,” Carlos says knocking on the door. “Can we come in?”

“No,” came the petulant reply causing Maribel to roll her eyes, and open the door anyway.

“Did you hear your father? Your mate is gone.”

“Good. I don’t need a stupid alpha anyway.” Santana curled up on her bed grabbing her pillow to cuddle it and inhaling deeply, Charlie’s scent was faint but it lingered. She felt pathetic. There was a loud voice in her that wondered what Charlie was doing, and she felt like an idiot. “Stupid alpha’s trying to boss me around like she knows best,” Santana grumbled.

Carlos shot Maribel a look and she sighed. “You’re your own person, Santana. Your alpha isn’t there to boss you around.”

Santana arched her brow in disbelief, glancing up from her pillow. “She wants me to stay at home and be pregnant and—I don’t know barefoot! And be there at her beck and call for sex!”

“She said that?” Maribel growled lowly, well that might explain why Santana was furious at her mate.

“Of course she didn’t but it’s obvious isn’t it? Her mom is a stay at home-mom. You should hear Quinn and Rachel talking about reproducing and having their little lizard-hobbit hybrid spawn running around. I don’t want to be some housewife, who stays at home and is barefoot all the time. I _don’t_ want to be at her beck and call for sex—I don’t want a stupid alpha, who only cares about mating. She treats it like it’s no big deal. We mate and then what? I bet she doesn’t have the answer to that. You heard what she said about omega’s how we _want_ to find an alpha like they’re some—some prize or something.” Santana exhales noisily and looks at her mother. “No offense.”

Maribel arched her brow. “What I heard was an alpha who is trying to take care of you. Don’t think I missed the bullshit about the two of you trying to get to know each other.”

“Mom.” Santana rolled her eyes. Of course her mom was on Charlie’s side.

“I’m not just saying this as an alpha. I’m saying this as your mother. It sounded to me like your alpha is far more concerned about making sure you’re comfortable than keeping you barefoot and pregnant all the time.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing. I’d love to be naked and ready to service your mother at any moment.” Carlos spoke up, delighted when it had the desired effect and made both Santana and Maribel turn to him in horror and amusement, respectively. “We had to get rid of naked Thursdays when you were born.”

Santana furrowed her brow. “I thought you guys always talk about Naked Tuesdays.”

“We got rid of that a little later.” Carlos grinned when she pulled a face of disgust.

“Gross. Papi, I don’t think I ever needed to know that.” Santana groaned.

He took a deep breath, turning serious. “Alright, I guess I made you uncomfortable enough.” He narrowed his eye at his daughter. “Now listen to me or I’ll make it even worse. Your Mami and Charlie are right when they say mating makes everything easier. You can’t lie to me, because I _know_ what it’s like when you first meet your mate. You are torturing yourself, and probably Charlie too, and the thing that makes your mother and I worried is that you just don’t understand how wonderful it is to be with your mate—”

“Papi, I’m not some little kid—”

“Listen.” Maribel growled at her daughter. Carlos was on a roll and she wasn’t sure there was anything more attractive than watching him be a father.

“You _are_ an omega Santanita, and it’s _scientifically_ proven that you crave an alpha. And not just any alpha, but _your_ alpha. The thing that people don’t mention nearly as much is that Charlie craves an omega just as badly.”

Santana looked at him closely for any hint of deception, but Maribel took up where he left off.

“Your Papi is right, all of us, alphas and omegas are hard-wired to want to be with our mates. It’s no use trying to fight it. We _need_ each other.” Maribel said and shook her head, “I didn’t find out what your father’s name was until after my second—”

“Too much information!”  Santana said immediately covering her ears.

Maribel smirked, “My point is, it’s not _uncommon_ for an alpha to not ask, we lose ourselves to our instincts. She met you while you were in heat, and it must have thrown her for a loop, and let’s not mention you two were intimate while you were in heat and she didn’t mate with you. Even though I imagine at some point you wanted to.”

“It’s fine if you want to torture yourself and wait, Charlie seems like she’s waiting for you to want to be her mate, but if you have all these unasked questions, then you need to talk to her. You need to ask her. I mean if you want to be like two Beta’s.” Carlos crinkled his nose a bit. “Knowing is easier than not knowing who you’re meant to be with. You know who your mate is, and you _need_ to talk to her. Figure things out, mating will take time if that’s what you want.”

Santana frowned and turned to her mother and then eyed her father, “And you were okay with mom not knowing your name? When you first met?”

“Well, no. Your mother was in heat when I met her, kind of like you and Charlie. I don’t think I remembered my _own_ name. We mated that day, and I wouldn’t change anything. The getting to know each other part that came naturally. But being mated—sometimes it’s like we don’t need words to know what the other is thinking.”

“I know what she’s thinking.” Santana grumbled. “It’s always sex.”

“Again, that’s not always a bad thing.” Maribel teased, chuckling when Santana’s cheeks flamed red.

“ _Gross_.” Santana spat again. She wasn’t a _prude_ , but sex wasn’t _everything_. Despite what her parents implied and catching Quinn and Rachel in the act several times already, it wasn’t the most important thing that she wanted in a relationship, and as far as she could tell Charlie put them all to shame. “Do I need to apologize?”

“Yes,” Carlos said immediately.

“Absolutely not,” Maribel grumbled.

Santana looked at both her parents and raised a brow, “Thanks for the advice.” She scoffed. _That_ wasn’t helpful at all.


	12. Chapter 12

Quinn jumped, slamming her naked back against the kitchen cabinet when the door from the garage slammed shut. “Fuck,” She cursed, why the hell were they back so soon? They were supposed to be gone for hours. She glanced over at Rachel who had curled in against her and fallen asleep between Quinn and the cupboards. Having only a few seconds to react before her whole family moved into the kitchen, she wrapped her arms protectively around her mate, just waiting for anyone to say anything.

“Quinn, what the fuck?” Charlie groaned, not even needing to enter the room to have the scent waft toward her. “I eat in here.”

“You eat everywhere,” Quinn retorts quietly rubbing Rachel’s back, a pleased smile on her face. She had worn Rachel out, which meant that her omega was pleased. She puffed out her chest and eyed Charlie, “Don’t think I didn’t notice how my car smelled like you and Santana had fucked.”

Charlie frowned eyeing the various surfaces in the kitchen; she wasn’t sure what was clean and what wasn’t. The whole thing was rather unsanitary. “I would never take my mate—Santana in the back of your car. It’s gross and it smells disgusting in your car.”

Quinn raised a brow, she had noticed Charlie forcing the change in how she spoke about Santana and flashed her parents a smile as they finally entered. “Mom, Dad, dinner didn’t go well I take it?”

Russell frowned, “Quinn what have I told you about having sex in the kitchen?” he questioned in a gruff tone. The fact that his daughter’s mate was currently naked didn’t bother him in the slightest, but it’s not like Quinn lived alone.

“I would have cleaned up once I was finished,” Quinn replies flashing her father a smile deciding to focus on the disaster that was brewing as Charlie made a face before opening the fridge. “Seriously, what’s her problem?”

“I don’t think tonight went as well as she hoped.” Judy confided, frowning at the sight of both of the teenagers on the cold floor. She rolled her eyes and turned to the laundry to find them at least something to cover up with.

“Could you stop talking about me like I’m not here?” Charlie spat, kicking Quinn’s foot out of the way so she could open the freezer side all the way. She grabbed a half-empty tub of Rocky Road ice cream and stole a spoon from the drawer. Slamming the door to the freezer shut, she stormed toward her bedroom, before turning back. “Just next time remember that you’re not fucking god and stay in your stupid fucking room like a normal person.”

Quinn bristled at the tone. “What, did your omega reject you again?”

Russell moved to immediately intercept Charlie, who made a lunge for Quinn. “Now Charlie, you did put your foot in your mouth in a major way. I know you want to mate with her, I know how desperate you’re getting but we just got the kitchen redone, and I can’t have you two going at it and ruining the work that was done. Your mother and I are looking forward to the day you two graduate and you leave this house. We probably won’t be spending a fortune on replacing furniture.” He waits until Charlie stops struggling before letting her go.

“Seriously though, it’s been like over a month. That’s like unheard of, your mate is weird. Why in the world would she want to do things like the Beta’s do.”

“She’s not weird,” Charlie grumbled rushing to Santana’s defense.

“Well the alternative is that you did something wrong _again_ , and you’re going to make a poor mate. If you ever mate.”

“Lucy,” Judy admonished causing Quinn to look at her and shrug.

“I mean at least in my defense, I had to beat Finn for Rachel. What’s your excuse?” If Charlie was going to be a bitch about the whole thing then two could play at that game.

“Enough Quinn,” Russell said rolling his eyes, and placing another hand on Charlie’s shoulder. “Charlie, your mate is stubborn, and that’s fine, just continue to go at her pace. Everything will work out in the end if you’re mates. It will eventually happen.”

“Right, not if I end up dying,” Charlie grumbles. “She’s _killing_ me!”

Judy rolled her eyes, “Don’t be so dramatic dear, it doesn’t suit you. You offended her, so I suggest you go back to the crazy idea of getting to know each other like you were doing and she _might_ mate with you.”

“The operative word in that statement is that she _might_ mate with me, look at my hand! Do you know how hard it was to _not_ mate with her? I’m trying to respect her wishes and her wants but— _come on_.  It’s not _about_ mating with me, yes we had fun, but I want my mate. She’s strong and smart and perfect—well except for her stubbornness. What’s wrong with me?”

Quinn smirked. “Do you want me to make a list? You’re rude, you eat non-stop, you think—”

“Quinn, please.”  Russell said rubbing his forehead. “There’s nothing wrong with you Charlie, I know that now that you’ve found your mate that’s all you can think about. But sometimes you just need to be a bit patient. I know it’s not something that alpha’s excel at, but just give her a bit of space to think. Bring her lunch like you’ve been doing and showing her that you’re always going to be there for her as her alpha.”

Charlie opens her container of ice cream and begins to shovel some of it into her mouth. “ _Fine_.”

~O~

Santana grimaced as she stood in line for the cafeteria again, she _really_ needed to start waking up early, but Charlie had been bringing her lunch every day, so she hadn’t had to. She doubted that Charlie made it herself, but it was a free lunch that never seemed to have any strings attached to it, and Judy’s baked goods were _delicious_. But they were fighting and Charlie hadn’t been waiting for her like usual around her locker, this morning. In fact she had only seen Charlie for a few seconds earlier walking with Quinn who had come to walk Rachel to her next class. She hadn’t really said anything to her.

Which meant that she had to buy the crappy cafeteria food, maybe she would _actually_ have to apologize to Charlie, but maybe she would give it a few days after her heat was done. She had woke up with that throbbing between her legs craving another day in bed with Charlie. That _clearly_ wasn’t going to happen.

“What are you doing?”

Santana turned from where she had grabbed her tray and looked at Charlie who was holding two lunch bags, one with her name written on it. “You didn’t have to do that—aren’t you mad at me?”

“Not mad enough to let you poison yourself on cafeteria food.” Charlie held out the lunch bag. “Here. Mom, made brownies last night.” She hands it off to Santana and turns to look at a free table and crinkles her nose when she sees Rachel and Quinn sitting together. “I’m going to go sit by Quinn and Rachel, I’ll see you later.”

Santana glanced around, taking only a second before making her decision. “Charlie wait—”

Charlie paused.

“Maybe—” Santana shifted uncomfortably. Fuck, this was a disaster. She craned her neck and sighed. “Don’t be an idiot. Come have lunch with me.”

Charlie turns to look at Quinn and Rachel and shivers when she notices that Quinn’s hand has disappeared. God damn them, and the fact that they couldn’t even give her a lunch where she didn’t have to watch them go at each other. “I don’t know—”

“Do you really want to eat lunch with the hobbit and the lizard?” Santana asks and turns to look at them. “I’m pretty sure Quinn’s hands are under Rachel’s god awful skirt right now. It would explain the looks that Finn is giving them.”

Charlie groaned, she couldn’t do it. She liked sex, but she could _wait_ , at least until they were in private. “Okay,” she mutters. She was definitely going to make sure Quinn got a piece of her mind later. She follows Santana to an empty table and puts her lunch down and opens it, she still waits for Santana to take a bite out of her lunch before she starts to eat.

“So—” Santana says, the situation feeling hopelessly awkward. “Your parents like to embarrass the crap out of you too huh?”

“The only reason my parents had kids was so that they could embarrass them. Apparently it’s what you’re supposed to do when you get old and senile.”

“It must be in the handbook or something.” Santana mumbles and bites her lip, chewing on it when Charlie just shuffles a bit. She sighs and looks away for a moment, “Do you want to just mate?” She might as well just get it over with, it was what Charlie wanted and her parents.

“No,” Charlie responded. “I don’t want to mate with someone who doesn’t want me as a mate. I also don’t want you to offer it as an apology. I want you to want to be my mate.” Charlie crinkles her nose a bit before packing her half-eaten lunch. “I’m going to go sit by Quinn and Rachel now. I’m not mad—not really, I just liked it better when you were very vocal about what you wanted and I don’t mean that in a sexual way. I liked that you were independent and could take care of yourself, I don’t like—” Charlie waves her hands. “This. So find me when you’re either ready to talk or you make a decision.”

Santana frowned, “I want to go to college and have a career, and I want to put off having kids for as long as possible.”

Charlie stops and looks around for a moment, “Okay?”

“I’m never going to be _just_ your omega. I want to be a doctor or a lawyer—or _something_ maybe I want to be a vet? I don’t know what I want but I know that I want to figure it out. I don’t want to stay at home and just be pregnant and barefoot, and I don’t want to be at your beck and call for sex.”

“What do you mean you’re not going to be just my omega—if you’re my mate then you’re _my_ mate you can’t just date other people,” Charlie says horrified at the prospect. What type of alpha did Santana take her for? Maybe she needed to be a bit more possessive.

Santana stared at Charlie for a moment, she was torn between being amused and being annoyed. Of course Charlie had only heard what she had wanted to hear. “No, that's not what I—meant. I mean that I don’t want you to see me as _just_ an omega. You’re not _just_ an alpha. You have hopes and dreams and all that shit don’t you?”

“Oh—” Charlie rubs her arm. “Look I’m sorry that I didn’t find out your name when we first met—”

Santana held up her hands, to stop Charlie. “Apparently that’s an actual thing that happens. My mom didn’t ask my dad what his name was until they were in the middle of having sex, and they still mated anyway.” Santana takes a deep breath. “So you don’t want to make me into some housewife and you know get pregnant right out of high school like Quinn?”

“Oh god no. I don’t even think Quinn and Rachel are serious about having a baby right after high school, they both have so much they want to do. I think it’s just one of their many, many kinks, which gross me out. I honestly don’t know and when Quinn tries to explain it to me I tune her out. As for me trying to keep you at home, it’s obvious that I’m never going to be able to do so even if I wanted to. I don’t want to by the way.” Charlie leans in, “Babies freak me out,” she admits to Santana who laughs.

“Great, my mate is an alpha who is scared of babies,” Santana says with a shake of her head. She could work with that.

~O~

Santana was nearly going crazy when the last bell sounded. She had refused to go to Charlie after lunch. She might still be in heat but she had some self-respect. Well, at least she _did._ She was dying and it seemed that her itch was something only Charlie could scratch.

Worse yet, Rachel had seemed to take it upon herself to remind Santana of all of Charlie’s good (or less than intolerable) qualities. Infuriatingly, even just the mention of Charlie made her squirm uncomfortably in her seat.

But would it be so bad? Despite her protests, she _knew_ Charlie was her mate and even more, she wanted to mate with her. She gripped the straps of her backpack tighter and made her way out of the school, glad that another day was over. She actually knew was for homework today, and she knew that she would be spending most of the weekend doing it. It would be something to certainly keep her mind off—Charlie. A whimper nearly makes it out of her lips as she spots her mate sitting on the hood of Quinn’s beaten up old jeep, reading V for Vendetta. “ _Fuck it_.” Santana hisses and marches towards Charlie. If Charlie notices that she’s coming she doesn’t show it. It’s annoying and she _knows_ that Charlie can certainly _smell_ the fact that she was aroused. It was probably another one of her power trips. “Charlie. You’re coming home with me.”

“Santana, we aren’t having sex, I’m not sure that I can hold back. It was difficult last time to not mate with you,” Charlie explains and her comic book is snatched out of her hand forcing her to look at Santana.

“Charlie, you’re coming home with me,” Santana repeats slowly.

Charlie tilts her head slowly at Santana, biting the inside of her cheek to stop the huge grin on her face. “What about your parents?”  Charlie asks after a moment.

“My parents will probably give us a few hours, if I tell them that we are about to mate. A _few_ hours. We probably won’t have the whole night but—I’m sure you can manage to get something going.” She gently prods Charlie’s side. “Come on.”

“Why are you so bossy?”

“Says the person with the massive tent in their pants,” Santana retorts and Charlie finally grins and scrambles off the jeep.

~O~

Everything about this felt different than last time. There was no desperation, yes she was wet, and she felt just as needy as before, but Charlie wasn’t attempting to exert any dominance over her. Instead she had spent the past half hour between her thighs, bringing her to orgasm after orgasm with her mouth. For a moment she wasn’t quite sure if Charlie _was_ actually going to mate with her, but as Charlie crawled onto the bed and positioned her body above her she knew it was coming. It was the look in Charlie’s eye, yes there was lust there but there was also something else there.

“Are you ready?” Charlie asks running her hand along her length, she was hard, painfully so and she wasn’t quite sure what she would do if Santana changed her mind last minute.” Cause I’m serious I’m not sure if I _can_ stop, once we start.”

Santana nods slowly, still panting lightly from Charlie’s earlier ministrations and swallows. This was it, she had heard that it was going to hurt, Charlie latching on, marking her body.  “Yeah, I get it— _just do it_.”

“So romantic,” Charlie teases and leans forward kissing her, using her hand to guide her dick into Santana. It’s still as tight as it had been yesterday and Charlie can’t help but to let out a hearty groan against Santana’s lips. “ _Fuck_.”

Santana moans despite herself, Charlie’s width filling her pleasantly. There’s no rush, and even though she needs Charlie to do _something_ , anything really, the alpha doesn’t move right away, until a second later when her hips begin to move slowly. It’s different, and without the frantic feeling of their first time together, she just lets the pleasure wash over her, moving her hips in time with Charlie’s trying to establish a rhythm. “ _Charlie_ —” she arches her back and she feels Charlie’s hands roaming against her breasts, teasing them and groping them.  

“Santana,” Charlie grunts, she’s close it’s embarrassing but she’s never been on the quick side, but there’s something different about this. Santana’s tight and warm and the moans and the smell, and she can’t help but to shift, “Last chance—”

“Do it, I want it. I want to be your mate—” Santana groans as Charlie leans forward choosing a spot on her right shoulder and biting into the flesh, locking on. The mark would never fade, and she didn’t want it to, she _wanted_ to be Charlie’s mate, more than anything and today just proved it. Her own personal alpha to boss around one, and love her. She’s not quite sure _what_ she’s feeling at this point but it makes her feel warm and fuzzy like she’s being engulfed in a hug.

Charlie groans, if anything Santana smells even better and she can’t help but move her hips, her thrusts becoming erratic, she _loved_ her, even if Santana was stubborn, and insisted on being bossy. It didn’t matter she had found her partner in life and already she could feel the difference. She could feel Santana’s emotions the uncertainty hidden behind all that confidence, she just _knew_. It made sense now, everything did and she felt like an ass for getting so upset to begin with. She thrusts forward a few more times, before she feels Santana's legs wrap around her waist, locking her inside of her. She groans into Santana’s shoulder closing her eyes and digging her fingers into Santana’s hip, as she finally cums. It’s harder than usual, and she can feel Santana’s hand on the back of her head.

Her orgasm hits the moment Charlie’s does and she gets why Charlie was so eager to mate, so certain. She had been lonely, was this how all alpha’s felt? But Quinn and Rachel, as much as Charlie crinkled her nose at them and cursed them out, bothered her more than she had ever told anyone. So this was what mating was, and it felt _wonderful_. Why had she been so resistant to it before? Charlie was _her mate_.

It takes a moment before the moment is over and Charlie slumps onto Santana, finally letting go, “Wow,” she mumbles.

It takes Santana moment to realize that Charlie was speaking before she wraps her arms around her _mate’s_ shoulders and tilts her head up so she can lean in and kiss her. “Next time,” Santana mumbles, “Don’t take so long,” Charlie lets out a tired laugh rolls over onto the bed after sliding out of her.

“Santana?”

“Mhm?”

“We’re not going to become like Quinn and Rachel are we?”

“God no. And we’re not going on any double dates with them. I’ve heard Rachel’s suggestions and they sound terrible, and even if they didn’t they’d _probably_ end up abandoning us. Or you know, we’d end up just walking away, and stealing their car while we’re at it.”

Charlie bursts out into a tired laugh, “I love you,” she admits openly.

“I love you too,” Santana says after a moment, she can’t hide it. She doubts that she can hide anything from her mate anymore, and it seemed that Charlie wouldn’t be able to either.  

 


End file.
